I reached out into nothing and pulled a yellow band of power from my reserve. I pulled a second, and a third, and so on until I held fifteen of them. I whipped them out to horses all around us, and I convinced each beast that the horse closest to him was an awful threat that should be kicked right away.
When this hell for horses broke loose, complete with kicking, neighing, biting, stomping, and men cursing, I wheeled my horse left toward the bog and kicked its ribs hard. Once in the swamp, we could keep Leddie chasing us forever, or until her men were sucked down by the swamplands, one by one. I hoped we could. I had been spending power more freely than I liked and was feeling a bit pauperized.
I peeked over my shoulder to see whether everybody was following, but Pil had become such a familiar burden that I forgot she was right in my way. I slowed to turn and peek around her. That’s when something ragged hit me hard on the skull. I felt myself fall and bounce on the grass, but I didn’t feel anything after that.
ELEVEN
I didn’t know whether the pain in my head or the pain in my hands woke me. It was probably the hands. I sometimes have nightmares about losing my hands. Again. A miserable dog’s whang of a sorcerer once cut them off. Considerable effort was required to repair that situation.
I could see light from a nighttime campfire close enough to toss a stick into, if I’d been free to toss anything. My butt rested on something low, maybe a stool, and my back leaned against a tree. Something weighty dragged both my hands straight down at my sides.
Leddie’s fake imperial sergeant leaned over me. “Awake?”
I nodded. Leddie stood behind him grinning.
The sergeant stomped on my toes. “Goddamn sorcerer.”
“Shit! Krak’s pits! I’ll ram that foot in your ear and pull it out your nose!” I would have jumped up to pummel him but for the chain running across my chest, pinning me to the tree.
Leddie pouted. “Creaky, I think you’re just mean. You ran away and hurt my feelings! It’s as if you don’t love me anymore.”
I smiled, showing her as many teeth as I could. “I hope you have this much fun when I cut your throat.”
She nodded at the sergeant, who seized me by the head. Somebody else stepped up and yanked open my mouth. I tried to bite him, but he evaded while cursing me to both Krak and Lutigan. I didn’t even slow him down—maybe he grew up feeding wolves by hand. Leddie leaned in and blocked out most of the light, but I saw her holding a cup, and I flailed like a carp on fire. She poured something cool and as sweet as honeysuckle into my mouth while somebody else slapped me hard on the shoulder. All the slapping and blasphemy distracted me, and I swallowed some of the stuff before spitting out the rest.
Leddie stepped back. “First time I’ve tried this. I hope it doesn’t kill you. They say you should breathe deep, or you’ll get a tummy ache.”
I spit some more of the dubious fluid out. “Don’t worry about my comfort, you ass-wrecking sow! Stab yourself in both eyes if . . . you . . . yellow . . .” My head shivered and plunged down through my body into the earth before I passed out.
Sometime later, I heard people talking far away. I kept my eyes closed and my breath even. Leddie had been right: My stomach hurt like it was full of shattered glass. I twirled the tip of one finger to pull a band of power, but it was like moving in thick mud.
“He’s awake.” The sergeant grabbed my head again. Leddie’s thugs pinned me and held my mouth open.
“Hope you remembered to breathe!” Leddie sounded as jolly as if she were reminding me to take my cloak with me while picking apples. She poured the nasty crap into my mouth again. Instead of swallowing, my body vomited right back into her face.
Leddie shook her head, wiped herself with her sleeve, and shrugged. “Sharpen your manners. They’d better improve if you ever want to be my guest again.” She reached behind her as I concentrated on pulling power to do something fatal to her and all her men. I wasn’t sure what yet and was hoping for inspiration in the next few seconds. But the thick resistance against my fingers slowed me down.
Leddie brought out another cup and poured it into me. I choked and tried not to swallow the stuff, but some of it seeped down. I thrashed, and one of the soldiers kicked me in the shin. My head plunged, and I passed out again.
When I woke up, morning hadn’t arrived yet. Or maybe a whole day had happened while I slept. Somebody had moved me, and I was sitting on the thin grass with my back against a big tree. Manacles clamped my wrists, and they seemed linked by a chain that ran all the way around the tree behind me. Some sort of heavy gloves covered my hands, and I couldn’t wiggle my fingers the tiniest bit.
I hadn’t successfully pretended to be unconscious yet, so I said to hell with it. I pulled my hands forward hard. The chain allowed me a foot of movement with one hand or the other. My right hand seemed to have been shoved into the middle of a rock
