Risk

Chapter XXV

"Jasta! Jasta wake up!" Rowan's urgent tone and the persistent pushing against her shoulder roused her. She sat up blearily, noticing in confusion that the sun was still very high in the sky, and barely even starting to sink down towards the horizon.

"Rowan, what's wrong?" she blinked sleep from her eyes, looking up to see Rowan standing over her, doubled over to stoop under the thorn bushes.

"Get ready, we have to leave." He urged her, tugging at her sleeve. "Now!" he added forcefully when she didn't make any movements.

Finally getting it into her foggy head that something had to be wrong, Jasta sprang into action, trying to get her sandals on with fumbling, sleep-clumsy hands.

"Rowan, what's going on?" she asked, shaking the sand out of her hair with one hand. She crawled through the low entrance they had made that morning before sleeping.

"No time to explain, get on." He was already sitting astride Star's back, seemingly ignoring his injuries, which by no means could possibly be healed yet. Jasta limped over. Her wound hadn't been faring well in the sweltering heat. It was still healing, but the heat had made it sore and damp.

She pulled herself over the saddle, and settled into the seat, panic rising in her throat. What could possibly scare Rowan so much? His face showed nothing, but she could see it in his eyes. she'd seen the look before too many times- it was the look of prey when they knew they were being hunted.

The sun was beating harshly down on the endless expanse of sand—or, endless at first glance. In the far distance ahead of her, she could just make out a smudge of green. Rowan kicked Star into a gallop as soon as she was seated, which made her worry even more. He never kicked Star, so he had to be in a very big hurry.

She screwed up her eyes against the sun and twisted in the saddle to look back the way they had come.

There was nothing but sand as far as she could see, but then her eye focused on something that hadn't been there only seconds before. Coming along the same track that Rowan had used, there was a black dot. For such a large distance, it was a pretty big spot, so Jasta guessed it was multiple horses and riders. She would have thought it was a coach or a carriage, but the wheels would do nothing but spin in the sandy terrain, so that couldn't be right.

Her blood ran cold when she realized what that had to mean. Rowan's brothers were closing in on them.

Star, after two days of nothing but desert, and days before that of trudging in the hot sun, was obviously worse for the wear, and she began to lag slightly. Her strides weren't nearly so long, nor so fast, as they had been when they started out.

She glanced back again. The horses and riders were definitely getting closer. She silently prayed that Star would find extra strength to go faster, but it seemed that exactly the opposite was happening. She was starting to slow down even more, and her flank felt hot—almost feverish—under Jasta's legs.

She felt her breath getting quicker, and she fought with the panic that was making her heart race. Another glance back revealed that she could already see the clear outline of the first rider in the line. They were getting close, and fast.

She peered around Rowan. The smudge of green had grown larger, and she was now able to see that it was a forest. She prayed they would reach the trees in time to lose their pursuers.

She almost fell off from leaning out in the saddle, and her heart skipped a beat, but she managed to clutch the saddle to keep from falling off. Star was barely sustaining a slow gallop, which was quickly melting into nothing more than a failing trot.