“Why the hell not? Vardok said. “Theyll never know.

“Forget it, Stubble growled, rubbing his eyes.

Vardok scowled at him, but he moved away from Allegra, at least as far as was possible in the cramped wagon.

Stubble leaned over her. “Are you all right?

She stared up at him, too scared to answer, too dizzy from lack of food, and too drunk from the wine. He pulled her shift down over her body. Then he took that bottle out of his shirt, the bottle she hated.

“No, Allegra said. “Please. Dont.

“Shh, he murmured. “It will help you sleep.

She tried to turn away, but he held her in place while he covered her nose and mouth with the suffocating cloth.

Allegra groaned as she became aware of the bumpy ride. Each bounce added to her nausea. Opening her eyes didnt help; all she saw was a wooden wall a few handspans away. The carpet she lay on felt rough under her legs and smelled of the heavy yarns used in the Jazid rugs traded throughout the settled lands.

After several aeons, or maybe a few moments, she eased onto her back. Her eyes watered as pain stabbed her wrists. Her muscles had stiffened miserably, and the roof swam in her vision.

She rolled onto her other side, facing the interior of the wagon. The bottom half of the walls were wood; the top half had cloth patterned with green and black triangles, like a bizarre chessboard where the “squares were the wrong shape. Red dragons curled on the triangles, and red tassels hung from bars where the walls met the roof. Goods crammed the wagon: baskets of fruit and dried food, large chests with ornate fittings and bolts of cloth shot through by metallic threads.

The wagon also contained three nomads crammed in among the boxes. Stubble was leaning against a large crate, dozing. Vardok sat by a chest across from her, looking bored. The man who had carried her to the wagon was near the front, sprawled on a pile of carpets, holding a green bottle by the neck. From the strong odor of whiskey, she suspected he had been drinking for a while. When he burped and took a swallow from the bottle, she decided to call him Sot.