Shadow's Son by Shirley Meier, S.M. Stirling and Karen Wehrstein ...

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Fifty, they'd bought, which also meant finding six more people who both wanted to join the Yeoli army
and herd on the way there for board, not to mention two herd-dogs. And Shkai'ra's mount's favorite
meat happened to be horse, of which every horse from near Ri country with a sense of smell was aware.
At least with all the mounts to switch, they could move fast. All armies were horse-hungry. It would
finance the trip.
She dropped behind the herd and waited for Shkai'ra to catch up; her horse was Yeoli, didn't truly
understand what a Ri was and so was only somewhat dangerously nervous near it. Against the sore
places on her rear, dust had worked its way into the folds of cloth; her calves and thighs screamed.If I
could still grip with my legs, I'd be fine. As it is, those muscles just will not work . Hotblood's paws
hit the dust of the road with ashduf-puff sound, softer than a horse's hoof.She makes riding look so
fish-gutted easy … "You're not fooling anybody,kh'eeredo , least of all her," the Kommanza said
blithely, flowing along with her mount, nodding at Megan's. Her eyes laughed. "Justrelax !"
"I know."Her and her Koru-forsaken beasts. Give me a good river-ship any day . Megan risked
sparing a hand to wipe dust out of her eyes and look ahead to Thara-e. Her animal suddenly decided to
move sideways and dumped her on her behind in the road.Coincidence, obviously. Shit .
Shkai'ra leaned over Hotblood's withers, guffawing. Hotblood stretched his neck and hissed; she got the
feeling he was laughing too. Her faithful mare trotted happily off to the herd ahead.
She heard Tema's shrill voice up ahead, talking to one of the others. "Cahn I try riding? Just forrh a bit?
Cahn I, cahn I, pleeeeeease?"
Guttersnipe. Megan brushed off her pants and started walking.
"Come up, pillion." It was Shkai'ra, leaning over in the saddle and extending a hand down to her; Megan
bit back the thought that the Kommanza was being patronizing and accepted a pull up. "We should be
closing up soon; bathe, set up the tent, and I'll give you a rub with liniment." Hotblood rolled an eye back
at her. "Carrion-breath here says he still thinks we're being followed."
Megan leaned against Shkai'ra's arm, side-saddle, trying to find a position that didn't rub any aching
spots, sneezing at Hotblood's odor. "It's probably that caravan that's a ways behind. He thought the same
thing a while ago and it was just them. Koru, I'd kill for a bath."
They were in the ruins of Thara-e already, it seemed; Megan wasn't used to cities with no definite
boundaries like walls. The Yeolis had thought this one was far enough inland not to need them. It had
been wood. Sacked and burned last year, snowed and rained on since. At least there'd been no battle to
liberate it; apparently Chevenga had sent ahead a small force to catch the Arkan governor sneaking out
of the city with the war-chest, killed him, then bribed five thousand of the Arkan soldiers into deserting
and the general into surrendering. With their own gold—the merchant in Megan snickered.
"They've been diligent, for the numbers of hands they have left," she said to Shkai'ra.
"la." The Kommanza nodded at the new wood and Arkan-brick houses ahead. "Roads smoothed out,
fields cleaned up…"
"Those fields are being tended by everyone who can walk." Oldsters sat and weeded or turned the earth
by hand as far as they could reach, because the horses and oxen were gone with the army, or eaten;
toddlers worked, directed by their parents. They knew they'd have to farm to eat, war or no war.