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Setting off after the first group...
While Leod saw to the wounds of those who would be traveling in the slower group, Meghan and Incana made sure the horses were packed and ready to go. And when they were, Incana held their mounts steady as Meghan lent a hand to Sythric and to Vaenosa.
Lady, Meghan could see, was attempting to hold as still as she could while Brand figured out how to mount up by himself, with his one good arm. Meghan winced as she saw him clamber up, his left arm having to assist him anyway to maintain his balance. His face was pale when he sat up at last, his lips set hard in a line. But he soon regained a measure of calmness and she was relieved that she saw no blood beginning to stain his tunic. Still, she thought, she would ask Leod to see to his dressing.
She fell to the back of the line as they made their unhurried way from the hilltop camp. Vaenosa and Incana rode along together just in front of her. The three men were strung out, not too far distant from each other or from the women, at the head of the little column.
Meghan wrapped her cloak about her against the early morning’s chill. ‘Well, Ash,’ she murmured to the grayish mare. ‘We’re on our way again. And the Fates willing, we will reach the Golden Hall soon.’ She patted the horse on the side of her neck, cautioning her in a low voice to be cautious as she picked her way down the hillside . . .
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