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When Miranda frowned, he snidely added, You have your own knife.
She did not reply and thereby conceded the point. Dreibrand had come back and
she did not have to be alone. And he had given her a sword.
Grinning, she resumed her admiration of the weapon.
Have you ever shot a bow? Dreibrand inquired.
Timidly she shook her head.
I will teach you, but for now I will carry the bow because I will hunt with
it, he said.
And you will teach me to use this, she said greedily and held up the sword.
Sure, but it sounds like you are in a hurry to hurt someone, he joked.
I do not want to be defenseless, she explained.
Dreibrand agreed and added quietly, I was worried about you all day.
His soft tone made her feel suddenly shy, and Miranda busied herself with the
children. Elendra resisted her mother s wish to go to sleep and argued against
it even as Miranda tucked the blanket around her.
I am sick of sleeping on the ground, Elendra complained.
You will get used to it, Miranda predicted.
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I want to go home, the girl whined and Miranda stroked her round cheek with
a sympathetic touch. She did not know how to explain that they could not go
home. The shack in Wa Gira was probably destroyed, or at least Miranda hoped
so.
Miranda hummed a lullaby until her daughter drifted into the peaceful sleep of
children. The tender maternal scene intrigued Dreibrand, who had rarely been
around such family niceties.
When the girl and baby were asleep, Miranda moved around the campfire to speak
with Dreibrand.
I think we should move from this place. The beast might be very close, and
someday soon it will want fresh meat, she said.
I agree. And we are still close to Droxy, Dreibrand reminded.
So your Lord Kwan will send more men after you? Miranda asked.
Maybe in a few days. But he will give Hydax and Gennor a couple more days to
report back, Dreibrand replied.
Miranda eyed his weapons and foreign clothes. Associating herself with a
wanted person felt strange, but she supposed runaway slaves who stole horses
kept such company.
So do you know a way over the cliffs? Dreibrand asked.
Miranda shook her head and appeared dubious about his destination.
Why do you want to go up there?
Because it is the Wilderness. You must be curious? he said with enthusiasm.
Now that she thought about it, she was surprised to find that she was curious.
The firelight bounced up only a tiny portion of the cliff, and Dreibrand
stared at the dark rock above. The stars marked the edge of the rocky barrier.
It does not make sense that this place is uninhabited, he remarked.
No ocean or desert separates this land from civilization. It is good green
land and people should be there.
No one has ever come out of the west, Miranda said.
But I think people are there, Dreibrand insisted. Now that I am seeing for
myself how large our world Ektren is, I cannot accept that people only live in
one place. I believe more than ever that a great kingdom must be in the west.
The Wilderness might be a buffer zone for protection. A frontier without roads
or people can be difficult for an army to cross.
His theory amused Miranda, who had never heard such an idea before.
Or it may just be an empty haunted land, like everyone says, she suggested,
thinking of the fenthakrabi.
Dreibrand frowned because he thought his explanation the most plausible. With
clear skepticism he said, I have also been told that
thousands of years ago, Gods made war in the Wilderness and now they do not
let humans live there.
I have heard that one too, Miranda said.
Well, maybe after all this time, the Gods will let me live there, he said.
You really want to be in the Wilderness, Miranda observed.
It is my dream, Dreibrand confessed. I feel strangled in my homeland, and I
want to start a new life for myself. Where better to do so than a new land?
Then which way do you want to go? Miranda asked.
Well, it is north or south. I feel inclined to look north, he said.
Why north? she wondered.
Dreibrand shrugged. I just have a feeling, and I have to choose somehow.
When Miranda considered his decision, she had no preference in direction. The
next morning they rode north and Dreibrand s eagerness to explore was almost
contagious to her. His excitement allayed her fear of the fenthakrabi.
It rained that first night away from the cave, and Miranda endured the
exposure. She wrapped Esseldan close to her body and managed to keep him dry.
Luckily it was only a mild spring shower, but Elendra complained as if it had
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been a heavy storm.
Except for this, the next three days passed pleasantly, and they saw no sign
of the fenthakrabi, although they kept watch every night. One afternoon they
rode into an area that had suffered a forest fire in the past year or two. The
land was open, providing a wide view, and covered with young vegetation.
Even though a green layer of renewal blessed the land, the blackened bare
trunks of trees claimed by the fire haunted the area.
Dropping back beside Miranda, Dreibrand commented, I still do not understand
why none of your people have migrated here. This land is good. Look how
quickly the land recovers.
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