A Horse Without a Rider

Astra may have gotten two hours of sleep broken by intervals of being groggy but awake. She would wake up shivering, and then rub her arms and legs briskly, trying to warm them up enough to go back to sleep. She stared up, and watched the progress of the waning moon across the sky, she then fall into a semi-sleep. She would then dream about swimming in some clammy water, and then before she knew it she was shivering again, and the moon had passed through an arc in the sky that was all too small.

She went through this cycle three times, except that the third time, she thought she heard an animal in the distance. She lay still. It was the sound of hooves, slowly and casually wandering towards her. This was a horse! It would be a miracle if Folly had followed her all the way here. More likely a horse had escaped from Still Manor, or one of the farms adjacent to the land that they were wandering through. If there were any farms nearby.

Hesht was now awake too. The horse had no rider, but had a saddle, a bridle, and a set of stirrips. The horse approached the spot where Hesht and Astra were encamped.

"Can you ride him?" asked Hesht. Hesht could not afford a horse, and the jobs that he did had never required that he be trained to do so.

"Oh, yes," Astra replied. "Who do you think that he belongs to?"

Hesht looked at the horse and the saddle.

1. "I cannot tell, khanomam."
2. He noticed something that escaped Astra's attention.

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