White Road

and no one will use them.”
    “We only have your word for that, don’t we?” said Seregil. “I have a better idea. Micum, lend me your knife.”
    Taking it, he opened the brown book halfway through and sawed through the binding, splitting it into two parts. “You can have your pick of which half you want, Rieser, but you can’t have it all. I get to pick the next one, and Alec the third.”
    Rieser watched in silence as he cut the others, then sighed. “I suppose it’s as good a solution as any.”
    “Why not just throw them into the sea?” asked Micum.
    “Because things like these have a way of surviving,” Seregil told him. “Let’s try something.”
    He gathered enough twigs and dry plants to start a small fire. When it caught, he held the corner of one page to the flame. It didn’t catch fire. None of the books would. “As I expected, you don’t keep such important information in an ordinary book.” He put them back in the bag. “Half of these are yours. We won’t fight you for them. But you know what we want in return.”
    Rieser gave them no reply, just walked off down the ledges.
    “That was your best solution?” Micum whispered.
    “It’s better than fighting over them, assuming that the other Ebrados agree,” said Alec.
    Seregil gave them both a crooked grin. “I may not be able to read the code, but I can tell where one chapter ends and another begins. I wouldn’t say I cut each one exactly in half, and I made sure we got what looked like the best parts. They may not be enough to tell us the whole story—”
    “Assuming you figure out the code,” said Micum.
    “How many times have you seen me fail at that sort of thing?”
    “Not often,” Micum admitted.
    “And if you can’t, then perhaps Thero can,” said Alec. “He’s handy at that sort of thing.”
    “He should be,” said Seregil, giving him a wink. “We had the same teacher. Let’s go.”
    “Wait.” Alec cut a piece from his saddle blanket, folded it into a sort of pad, and put it between the bag’s strings and Seregil’s shoulder.
    “Thanks, talí,” Seregil murmured.

CHAPTER 30
The Cottage by the Sea
    B Y LATE AFTERNOON they’d struck the highroad and Alec’s belly was complaining loudly again.
    Micum pointed forward to a familiar headland as they stopped by a spring. “I believe the cove is just beyond there.” It was no more than a mile on.
    “Good.” Seregil yawned widely.
    “Don’t start that,” said Micum, then succumbed to one of his own. “We don’t have that much farther to go.”
    “I just hope Rhal is actually—” Suddenly Seregil went very still, head cocked slightly. “Do you hear that?”
    The soft breeze carried the distant sound of riders—more than a few and coming on at a gallop.
    “They couldn’t have tracked us through the city,” said Rieser. “Someone must have seen us at the gate. Micum Cavish is a hard man to mistake in this land.”
    “Too true,” said Seregil. “Rieser, you ride with me for now, and give Alec’s horse a rest.”
    Alec went to Micum’s horse and laced his fingers into a stirrup. Micum’s limp was more pronounced now, and a stiff leg could mean a bad fall.
    Micum set his foot there and Alec boosted him up onto his horse’s back.
    “Can you ride hard?” Alec whispered to him, not wanting the others to hear.
    “Of course I can,” Micum scoffed softly, but his smile was tight.
    Seregil mounted his own sweating horse. The Hâzadjumped lightly up behind him and gripped the back of Seregil’s shirt.
    “We don’t know for certain it’s them,” Alec pointed out as they forced their tired horses into a last gallop. “It could be the man we stole the horses from.”
    “It could be slave takers,” said Micum.
    “I’d rather not wait around to see!” Seregil replied, taking the lead.
    Whoever it was, they couldn’t be too far behind if Alec could hear them over the surf. Sure enough, when he looked back over his shoulder, he caught the glint of afternoon light on metal. “Damn!” Whoever it was behind them, their horses must be fresher, for they were steadily gaining. There were too many to be the horse breeder and his men, unless he’d raised the countryside against them.
    “They’re gaining!” shouted Micum, though it hardly needed pointing out.
    Their pursuers were close enough now that Alec could make out the pale ovals of faces, but not features yet. Still out of bowshot, hopefully. He didn’t fancy getting shot in the