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"No," Lia said, her sto I can do that you cannot If we go under, do not panic Do not cling toyou to the other side If you squeeze me too hard, I will not be able to swi her lip

"Then we cross," he said, tapping the stallion’s flanks and nudging it into the water It balked, snorting warily at the scuue and sta the stallion off the riverbank The mud was loose and slick and Lia felt her insides churn like butter as the horse began thrashing With a splash and heave, her legs were soaked, then up to her waist The gritty dress clung to her, the weight of the water crushed against her hips She squeezed Colvin in a panic

"It is all right!" he shouted "Just hold the orb! Hold it tight!"

"Can horses swi with fear The saddle was slippery and she felt herself going off the back

"Of course they can! Hold tighter, you are slipping Slipping!"

He caught her ar into her bones and it hurt, but he ed to pull her back up on the saddle

"Just do not drop the orb! Do you have it? Good The water is cold It is all right There we are, it is not that deep after all Do you feel steady?"

"I a ashamed of her fear The stallion bucked a little, but the river was not that deep at the point and it was soon churning through thethe ed up the far bank, and again Lia had to hold tight or fall off The reeds slapped at theround

Colvin sighed with relief "We will rest here a moment Climb down" He followed and landed in the squishy mud His pants and tunic were soaked as well "Let us walk a ways and let the horse rest," he said, patting the stallion’s neck "He will need his strength if the sheriff’s h how they would find us in this swa her scowl finally

Lia looked down at her skirt The lower half was no longer blue, nor was her cloak, but dark with brownish, grayish sludge, and clung to her uncorabbed her ar with ooze Looking back, she could no longer see Muirwood, though she thought she could see the Tor saluting theh," she said with as much tartness as she could muster and stamped past him

Lia was exhausted, cold, miserable, and above all, thirsty There was no clean water to drink, nothing but brackish, cloudy pools that even the stallion avoided In herand wished she had drank ht of the clear, cool water tor, and they had reached a sht above the ankle-deep waters per the Bearden Muir The vast swamp stretched in every direction The land looked inhospitable There were no signs of hunarled and diseased oaks crowning it and the turf was thick with sharp-pointed desiccated leaves laying beyond the reach of the foul waters

Colvin huffed the saddle off the stallion and carried it up the hillock, straining with the weight of it Lia would have helped, but she sat against the trunk of one of the oaks, hugging her knees and trying not to cry again She hated crying, and she had succurief dropped froht die at Winterrowd, and then where would she go? Not back to the abbey Never to Muirwood She had stolen the Cruciger orb The Alderive her

"You can use this," he said with a grunt, plopping the saddle next to her "As a pillow tonight" He breathed heavily and bent over, planting hands on knees, and gulping air

"My arm is the only pillow I have ever known," she said sullenly "I a on the floor"

He nodded brusquely and then opened the saddle bags and withdrew three apples His hands her filthy, but he extended them to her first "Which one do you wish to eat? This one is the most scarred It will be the sweetest then, by your measure?"

"Then let the horse have it," she said "It labored the ave her a disdainful look "As you wish it then," he said with a snort, tossing her one of the other ones and started down the hillock She wiped the apple clean, as well as she could on her sleeve, and held it to her nose The smell of the swamp overruled most of her senses, but there it was – the hint of its scent, still clinging to the skin She took a bite The ue and the flesh crushed in her mouth, an even deeper sadness filled her and spread as she sed She gazed at the deepening glooht of her life The flavor was Muirwood She pressed soain and inhaled, choking back sobs as she tried to eat it Her throat was so parched, the juice only tantalized it As tears dripped fro the horse’s mane while it fed on the apple Why could he not understand as torturing her?