Lightnings Daughter by Mary Herbert (android based ebook reader .txt) 📗

knee. During their preparations he had sat on his horse without speaking or moving. Now, as he glanced down at Gabria, she was startled by the haunted expression on his face. His normally pale skin was deathly white; his thin features were pulled tight with tension. His hands were clenched around the saddle horn.

"Are you all right?" Gabria asked worriedly.

He nodded and drew a long, ragged breath. "I did not expect to feel my memories so sharply."

Gabria understood completely. "Face them," she whispered, "and you wil find they are only ghosts." She waited while the healer considered her words, then he relaxed a little and took his hands off the saddle horn.

He squeezed her hand. "I'll see you at the warehouse." He reined his horse around, and he, Tam, Sayyed, and Secen took the two' remaining packhorses and rode off through the trees. Treader ran ahead of them.

Reluctantly Gabria threw an extra saddle blanket over the withers of the pack mare and mounted.

It felt so strange to sit astride such a smal , thin horse. She gathered the reins and cast one last look at the Hunnuli, then she fol owed Athlone out of the trees and back to the path without a backward glance.

Before long, they trotted their horses over the last rise and down into the fertile Serentine Val ey.

Here, this close to the sea, the valley was so wide that the travelers could barely make out the hills on the opposite side. The land was so fertile almost every square acre was used for crops, pasturage, or vineyards. Huts, cottages, barns, sheds, farmhouses, and outbuildings of every kind were scattered on both sides of the river. The closer the riders drew to the city, the more numerous the Cottages and houses became. Inns, hawkers' stands, and shrines appeared along the road. The caravan trail soon changed to a stone-paved road as other trails and paths met and joined it.

The flood of people, carts, wagons, and animals on the road increased with every step closer to Pra Desh. Gabria and her companions had seen several caravans and small groups of riders on their journey, but they were not prepared for the crowded, swarming populace that lived in Pra Desh. The clanspeople had never been to a city this size, and the largest group of people they had ever seen in one place was at their own clan gatherings. This city was mind-boggling. Even Piers, who was a native Pra Deshian, had lived on the open plains long enough to be taken aback by the throng that rushed purposeful y back and forth. They crowded into the markets, crushed into the streets with a seemingly endless tangle of animals, pedestrians, and conveyances, and shouted, sang, talked, and bel owed in every known language.

Gabria tried not to let her mouth hang open as they fol owed the road into the city, but she could not hide her wide-eyed amazement at everything she saw. There were so many new things to look at!

Pra Deshians were fervent in their worship of their one god and his prophets, and built shrines and temples at every wide spot by the road. There were also open markets, shops, tenements, stables, and huge houses all along the great caravan route.

The road passed through the outskirts of Pra Desh, past a guard post at the official city limits, and into the city proper. Customs officials were checking loaded wagons and collecting taxes from irate drivers. A squad of five guardsmen in purple tunics helped enforce the col ection. They were too busy to notice the small groups of dusty clanspeople that rode by. Gabria breathed a sigh of relief as she, Athlone, and Bregan passed the guard and were lost to sight in the crowded streets.

They stayed close together in the streets, fol owing the road as Khan'di had instructed. It stil paralleled the river into the heart of Pra Desh's market district. They passed the huge fish market, the meat mongers' street, and the livestock market. One street seemed to be dedicated to the leather trade and another was obviously for bakers.

Along one particularly busy street, Bregan reined his horse closer to Athlone's and leaned over.

"Lord, I don't think this city is at war yet," he said over the noise of wagons and pedestrians.

Athlone glanced around. He had come to the same conclusion. "You're right. But have you noticed the number of armed men in the crowds? The city looks like a fortified camp. The Fon's invasion must be coming soon."

"So we have come in time," Bregan replied.

Gabria, riding close by, said, "I don't think there's much time left. I've been watching the people and they seem to be in an ugly mood. They don't like al the soldiers in their midst."

"I wonder how much cooperation the Fon is getting from the Pra Deshians,” said Athlone.

"We'll find out tonight from Khan'di,” Gabria said.

The chieftain nodded once. "If he comes."

The travelers rode on in silence. After a while, the road curved away from the river and left the busy market streets behind. The riders passed through an entertainment district of theaters, libraries, and a huge amphitheater to a quieter residential area. The houses here were two-story stone and wood edifices set back from the streets behind privacy walls. The houses were older and showed signs of age, but most of them were well-maintained and their gardens overflowed with flowers.

The road began to rise up a gradual slope until abruptly the riders reached the old city wall. There was a wide gap between the houses and the towering wall, and Gabria felt vulnerable as she rode across the open space to the gate. The Sun Door was a high, arched entrance with two tal gatehouses to either side. A rising sun was carved on the huge wooden door that stood open to allow traffic to pass. More soldiers, these wearing the red of the Fon's own guard, stood on