Dawn was teasing the horizon and causing the sky to blush when River made her way silently from the crowded tent she shared with her mother, her two aunts, five cousins, three younger sisters, her mother's made and the two geldings who had many years ago chosen her aunts as their Riders. As Rider of the Lead Mare of Herd Magenti , her mother's tent was situated close to the center of the spiral of stone monoliths that marked the Rendevious Site as a place of layline power, but even had the stones not been there, positioned like ancient, mute guardians, the cavernous underground opening that lay in the center of them was evidence of the destructive power of the sun that was so great that centuries ago it had opened the earth and utterly changed the world. River glanced at the mouth of the cave, trying to get a glimpse of the herd weanlings that waited within, but all she could see were shadows thrown by torches, though she could hear their restless nickers and nervous movements.
River resisted the draw of the weanlings. It was against Herd law for any Candidate to interact with the young horses after they'd arrived at the Rendezvous Site--one reason they remained hidden away in the cave that usually housed entire Herds within the safety of its depths.
