stroke his neck and flank. For a few moments they tested each
other, and then suddenly she was on his back, still talking
soothingly, the reins in her hands.
The horse whinnied and pranced at her touch. She guided
him back to where Morgan waited and climbed down.
“I’ll need him if I expect to make any time,” she said, one
hand still firmly gripping the reins. “What we find belongs to
us, the Rovers used to say. Guess I haven’t forgotten every-
thing they taught me.” She smiled and reached out to touch his
arm. “I don’t know when we’ll meet up again, Morgan.”
He nodded. “You better get going.”
“I owe you, Highlander. I won’t forget.” She vaulted back
into the saddle. “We’ve come a long way from the Hadeshom,
haven’t we? ”
“From the Hadeshorn, from everything. Farther than I
would have dreamed. Watch out for yourself. Wren.”
“And you. Good luck to us both.”
She met his eyes a moment longer, drawing on the strength
she found there, taking heart in the fact that she was not as
alone as she had believed, that help sometimes came from un-
expected sources.
Then she dug her boots into the horse’s flanks and galloped
away.
She rode west after the retreating night until daylight over-
took her, then stopped to rest the horse and let him drink from
The Talismans of Shannara 333
oool of water. She rubbed at her wrists and ankles some
rnore washing clean the deep cuts and dark bruises, and swore
to herself that when she caught up with Tib Ame she would
make him pay dearly. She had not eaten or drunk in almost
twelve hours, but there was no time to search for food or
drinking water now. Once the Shadowen discovered she had
escaped, they would be after her. They would be after Morgan
Lean as well, she thought, and hoped he knew a good hiding
place.
She remounted and rode on, following the grasslands out of
me hill country to the plains below Tyrsis that led into the
Tirfing. The day was turning hot and humid, the sky a cloud-
less blue and the sun a white-fire furnace. The trees thinned
into scattered groves and then into stands of two and three and
finally disappeared altogether. Midday arrived, and she crossed
the Mermidon at a narrows, the river’s waters low and sluggish
here, dwindling away into the flats. Her body and face ached
from the beating and the trussing, but she ignored her discom-
fort, thinking instead of the havoc that her disappearance must
have caused. By now they would be searching for her every-
where. Perhaps they had found Erring Rift and Grayl and
thought her dead as well. Perhaps they had given up on her,
choosing to concentrate on the Federation army and the Creep-
ers. Some would surely recommend that she be forgotten.
Some would find her disappearance a blessing …
She brushed the prospect aside. She had nothing to prove to
anyone. The fact remained that she needed to get back.
Barsimmon Oridio would be nearing the Rhenn with the main
body of the Elven army. With luck. Tiger Ty would be return-
ing with the Federation, ff she could reach them before any
fighting began …
She stopped herself.
What?
What would she do?
She blocked the question away. ft didn’t matter what she
did. It would be enough that she was there, that the Elves
knew they had their queen back, that the Federation must deal
with her anew.
She turned north to follow the Mermidon and found water
for the horse on the plains, but none for herself. The sun beat
334 The Talismans of Shanna
down overhead, and the air sucked the moisture from her boc
She was tired, and the horse was tiring as well. She could rot
keep on much longer. She would have to stop and wait out t”ie
heat. The thought made her grind her teeth. She didn’t have
time for that! She didn’t have time for anything but going ors’
She rested finally, knowing she must, finding a grove of c-i-
close to the riverbank where it was cool enough to escape i ,