[Belin]

Remdil calculated. How long had it been? A couple of days, at any rate, and the horse hadn't gained him quite the advantage he'd hoped for. Certainly it had been long enough for them to get here. Were they loitering somewhere? Were they already in town, behaving quietly, so that this boy would never know they were there? Somehow he doubted it. Or possibly (a thought that gave him more pleasure than he had expected) their horses had fallen down and broken their legs and they'd set upon each other and they were all lying out there together, broken bodies in the rain, without Livia, who'd run away at the first opportunity.

"Stop that," said Dineniel, slightly disquieted by the unsettling and uncharacteristically grim smile that was creeping across Remdil's face.

He cleared his throat. "Are they coming, do you think?"

He was looking at Eolinda, but it was Dineniel who answered. "No, I don't. I think they're far from here and I think they probably laugh at us every day. I think we need faster horses, and someone who can track. Fortunately, you're traveling with me."

Remdil opened his mouth, but Eolinda was already nodding and counting the money. "We don't have much food with us," she was telling the urchin. "We'll have to buy some. And no," she added, in answer to her husband's groan, "I don't think it will take more time than we can afford. We need whom we need. And if you can't stomach the notion of feeding starving children, I may need to wake up your Gus."

"Right," said Dinenial. "I'll get some horses, you get some food, Remdil, you can... well, go with her and think about way east. I'll meet you outside the gates in an hour."

She moved off, quickly disappearing among the men. Remdil wondered if they'd ever see her again, but the next moment Eolinda was taking his arm and quietly leading him outside, the boy ahead of them.