Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 422
something she could give them... but all the off-world
paraphernalia she had would endanger them if they kept it.
"I’m sorry," she said.
They glanced at one another. "Do you need saddles?"
said the younger man. The older one shot him a dirty look.
They really did need saddles, but Marya couldn’t bring
herself to go that far. "No," she said.
“Marya,” hissed Calandria.
"No saddles. Just horses. Thank you."
The dogs were recovering their sight, and whined and
snuffled around the feet of the men. Reluctantly, they turned to
walk three palfreys over to her. She had no way of judging the
quality of the mounts, and would probably have turned down
the best if she knew they were offering them to her. Silently,
the men bridled the horses and handed her the reins. "Spare
us," was all that the older one said as she led the horses out the
paddock gate.
She could smell the animals--a spicy and enticing odor,
but somehow... unsanitary. Her nose wrinkled. She made
hushing motions as she approached them.
The walk to the woods seemed to take forever, and
Marya looked back several times. The woman had joined
them, and the three stood there with slumped shoulders
watching part of their livelihood go. Marya felt so bad she
nearly cried.
“That was a damnfool thing to do,” accused Calandria.
“You could have got hurt if they’d attacked us.”
“I told you my plan would work better,” Marya shot
back. “And I told you yours wouldn’t work at all, remember?”
For once, Calandria had no answer.
"You’re crazy," said Axel Chan later that night. "He’ll