Page 42 of Grave Situation

“Dammit,” I hiss. “Fucking steaming piles of disease-ridden gods’ turds!”

Jaimin’s voice is still steady. “Are we likely to encounter zombies on our travels?”

~Yes~

Tia’s gaze clashes with mine, both of us stunned. Why didn’t I think of that? My focus was on possiblelivingminions of ourenemies, not the undead ones. I was sure they’d keep those in reserve for a mass attack.

“Dragon fire,” she whispers. “Magefire. We can handle this.”

We can. I think.

“Will you warn us if there’s a zombie in the area?” I manage.

~Yes/No~

“Well, that’s comforting.”

Jaimin’s staring at the stone. “I don’t know what to ask next,” he confesses, looking a little lost. It’s the first time I’ve seen him less than confident, and it scares me. He’s a master, the strongest healer of his generation, twelve years older and more experienced than I am… if he doesn’t know what to do, how am I supposed to?

A gentle pulse of assurance from the stone brings me out of my funk. “We’ll have time for more questions later,” I say, trying to sound like I’m not on the verge of riding into the nearest village, taking up some useful trade, and spending the rest of my life in obscurity. “Let’s get back on the road now. Maybe the… steady, uh, rhythm of the horses’ hooves will get our brains thinking.”

Tia looks at me as though I’ve gone insane, but Jaimin nods. “I’ve always found riding to be an astonishing way to clear the head,” he says, straight-faced.

“Astonishing,” I agree. “Absolutely. Tia, is Leicht nearby? We won’t leave you here alone, but it’ll take a few minutes to get the horses ready.”

Her gaze goes slightly distant. “He’s on his way. The sheep are apparently very good around here.”

I don’t know if I want to take meal recommendations from a dragon.

Jaimin and I have no trouble catching the horses—they seem to like him a lot—and I make sure Sweetie has some more water before I tighten the girth and painfully haul myself into thesaddle. Leicht lands, graceful as always, and less than a minute later launches again with Tia safely on his back.

Jaimin and I go back down the overgrown quarry road to the highway, and are soon cantering again. Another few hours, and we’ll stop for lunch. This is fine. In a week, we’ll be in Lenledia, where hopefully the champion will still be.

Everything is under control.

Except the world is tilting sideways.

No, wait,I’mtilting sideways. Am I falling out of the saddle?

I haul back hard on the reins as the saddle slides to the side, desperately kicking my feet free of the stirrups and trying to roll as I hit the ground head and shoulder first. Fortunately, Sweetie’s slowed enough that I don’t get trampled, and I scramble away from her deadly hooves, then lie in the muddy road, panting.

What. The. Fuck?

“Talon?” There’s alarm in Jaimin’s voice as he approaches, and I lift my head.

“I’m fine,” I groan. Except for my dignity, which is never going to recover. What even happened?

A distant memory stirs, and I sit up. Sweetie’s standing a few yards away, patiently waiting. My saddle is hanging upside down, the strap across her back and the seat dangling under her belly. There’s about half an inch of daylight visible between belly and saddle. “But I tightened the girth!” I exclaim.

Jaimin reins in beside me and swings down. “This is my fault,” he says apologetically, though I swear his lips are twitching. “I forgot to tell you that she likes to hold her breath right before you tighten the girth. You have to check it twice and make sure it’s actually tight enough.”

My eyes narrow as I scramble to my feet and stalk over to my horse. Leaning close to her ear, I hiss, “So that’s how you want to do this? Fine, then. It’s war.”

Late in the afternoon,I’m forced to admit that Sweetie is winning the war.

I tried. Really, I did. I wasruthlessabout keeping her on the road and at the pace we set. I stayed in the saddle. When we prepared to ride again after breaks, I tightened the girth twice, just so she couldn’t mess with me. And even though I swear she went out of her way to make the ride as bumpy as possible, I never made a peep about it. Bruises? What bruises? Aches and pains? Pffft. She will never know how much I hurt right now. How desperate I am for a long soak in a hot tub.

Except I think shedoesknow, because this whole time I’ve been grooming her, she’s been making it as difficult as possible. But only when Jaimin’s looking the other way.

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