He knelt on one knee, his back to her, kindling the night’s fire. The quilts were spread on the grass nearby; the kettle waited beside them. As she stepped soundlessly closer, she saw that his dark hair was dense and curly with moisture. He had washed already, yes, and drawn a basin of water for her as well, from the water casks strapped to the side of the wagon. Sparks jumped between his hands; grass smouldered and went out. He muttered what was probably a curse in a language she didn’t know. She stepped closer, put one hand on his shoulder and stooped to kiss the nape of his neck. He almost flinched, but not quite.
‘I knew you were there,’ he said matter-of-factly, striking another shower of sparks. This time the tinder caught and a tiny pale flame leaped up.
‘No, you didn’t,’ she contradicted. She watched over his shoulder as he fed twigs and bits of dry grass to the infant flame. Idly she twined one of his damp curls around her finger. It bared the birthmark on the back of his neck, an odd patch shaped vaguely like spread wings. She traced it with a fingertip. ‘Vandien?’ she began cautiously.
‘Sshh!’ he warned suddenly, but she had already heard it. Hoofbeats; a horse being ridden hard. As one they moved to the end of the wagon, to peer down the road. Goat’s comments on how the Duke felt about Romni had put Ki’s nerves on edge.
A great roan horse with a thick mane and tail galloped heavily toward them. The pale grey of the evening sky and the wide empty plain was behind it; it was the only moving thing on the face of the world. Its hooves were falling clumsily, as if it were too weary for grace, and lather outlined the planes of the animal’s muscles, but for all that it had beauty. Atop it were two girls, their heavy hair spilling black and red and moving with the horse’s stride. Their faces were flushed and bright beneath a haze of road dust. Their loose robes had been hiked up so they could straddle the big roan, and their bare legs and sandaled feet gripped the barrel of his body. Ki watched them come silently, seized by their beauty and vitality.
‘It looks like the two girls from the hiring mart,’ Vandien murmured by her ear. She could hear the smile in his voice. ‘I guess the red-haired one is running off to her sweetheart after all.’
Then: ‘Halloo, the wagon!’ A clear voice rose in the twilight. Vandien stepped out from the wagon and lifted a hand in greeting. The two girls flashed wide grins as they saw him, and then the sweating horse was pulled from the road, and came toward them over the coarse turf. The girl in front pulled in on the reins. The roan tucked his head stubbornly, and then perked his ears to her voice. He halted obediently, but tossed his head as if to show her he obeyed only because he wanted to.
‘Lovely,’ Ki muttered to herself, caught up in his clean lines and proud head.
‘Aren’t they?’ Vandien said as the girls slid from the roan’s back.
She had to nod to that, too. She guessed their ages fell somewhere between fifteen and eighteen years, but could not say which was the older. They were like enough in height and limb to be twins, but there the resemblance ended. The dark-haired girl with the startlingly blue eyes would have been a beauty anywhere, but her beauty would not have been enough to keep anyone’s eyes from her sister. The other girl’s hair gleamed between bright copper and rust. Her mismatched eyes, set wide above a straight nose, met Ki’s frankly; it made what might have been a fault into a flashing attraction. Where her sister was olive, she was pale. Freckles bridged her nose irresistibly. When she smiled, her teeth were very white. She glanced from Ki to her sister, and then to Vandien. ‘I’m so glad we caught up with you!’ she said breathlessly. ‘We didn’t hear you’d left until after noon. If Elyssen hadn’t been able to borrow this horse, I’d never have been able to catch you!’
‘Borrow!’ Elyssen exclaimed. ‘And I’d better have Rud back before morning, or Tomi’s master will have hard words for him.’
‘Ssh!’ the red-haired girl chided her sister, but amusement leaped between them like sparks. They both turned hopeful faces to Vandien. Silence hovered.
‘Come to the fire and tell us why you needed to catch us,’ Vandien suggested. ‘We can offer you a cup of tea after your long ride, if nothing else,’ he added.
Dark was falling rapidly on the open plain. The tiny fire was like a beacon now as Ki and Vandien led the way to it. The girls came behind them, whispering to one another.
‘Did you notice the bundle tied to Rud’s saddle-cloth?’ Ki asked him softly.
Vandien nodded. ‘I told them we couldn’t take passengers.’
‘But then you did!’ It was the red-haired girl, stretching her legs to catch up with them. ‘We heard in Keddi that you were taking Goat to Villena. So we knew you’d changed your mind, and because Tekum’s right on your road …’ Her hand settled on Vandien’s arm, forcing him to meet her hopeful eyes.
‘We don’t take passengers,’ Ki said gently. Going to the fire, she set the kettle of water to simmer.
‘But if you’re taking Goat to Villena, why can’t you take Willow to Tekum?’ Elyssen objected. ‘If he’s a passenger, why can’t she be one? We’ve money to pay for her passage.’
‘Because no angry father is going to come tracking him down. Brin sent Gotheris with us.’ Vandien’s voice was firm, but Ki heard the reluctance that tinged it. Willow’s wide eyes suddenly brightened.
‘But that isn’t how it is! You can ask Elyssen if you don’t believe me. Papa doesn’t mind me marrying Kellich. It’s only that Papa hasn’t much money right now.’
‘Yes, and too much pride to tell Kellich so,’ Elyssen cut in. ‘So when Kellich asked Willow to come away with him, Papa forbade her. Because he couldn’t give her those things that every woman should take with her when she goes with a man.’
‘Perhaps a cup of tea would make all this clearer,’ Vandien suggested. Ki gestured that they should seat themselves on the quilt near the fire. As she moved to take mugs from the dish-chest strapped to the wagon, she wondered what she was going to say. She had never taken passengers before. She hadn’t been enthused about taking Goat. She did not adapt easily to the pressures of sharing her life with other folk. Even Vandien had at first seemed more of a nuisance and an intrusion than a companion. She had saddled herself with Gotheris for two weeks, and already regretted it. Now this Willow was asking to ride along as far as Tekum. The worst part was that Ki could not think of any excuse to say no. Could two riders be any worse than one? And there was the money to think of, at a time when money was hard to come by. She glanced back at them, at Vandien nodding intently to the girl’s story. She didn’t have to ask his opinion. She added tea herbs to the kettle.
‘… so it happens all the time. When the girl’s family has no joining gifts to give her, or the boy’s family cannot afford to start him in a home, they run away together. Then both families say what wretched scamps their children are. But as soon as the first grandchild is born, the couple comes back and asks for forgiveness, and of course they’re forgiven, and everything is fine again.’ Willow spoke fervently, while Elyssen nodded eagerly.
‘It’s so, Vandien! I swear it! Papa won’t be angry. When Kellich went away, Willow cried for days and days, and Papa was horribly upset.’
‘You needn’t tell him I cried!’ Willow broke in, nettled.
‘But you did! And Papa was angry, just as he always is when one of us is sad and he cannot change it.’
‘Are you sure he isn’t angry because Willow won’t give way to his will?’ Ki asked. She passed out mugs, and then took the tea from the embers where it had been brewing. She filled the mugs they held out.
Elyssen dimpled with merriment. ‘Then why would he give her coins, all he could spare, and tell her to forget that worthless Kellich and buy the horse she’s always