The Deadwalk by Stephanie Bedwell-Grime

defeat. Through
her good eye, Riordan caught a glimpse of his anguished expression. She wanted
to call out to him, to tell him to end it all now, but she knew he would never
do anything to harm her.
    And as long as I'm still alive, I've got a chance at Rau.
    With the blade of his sword still pressed against her throat, he hauled her
with him to his horse. He tossed the saddle at her feet. Holding her by the
hair, his sword still at the ready, he ordered her to put it on.
    “Don't even think of it,” Rau said as Nhaille took a step toward them. “If
you're smart, you'll say your farewells now.”
    “If you're not going to kill him, Nhaille,” Riordan said, wanting only to get
him out of harm's way. There'd be time to deal with Rau later. “Just do as he
says.”
    “That's right, Captain. Turn around and start walking in the other direction.
Keep walking until the sun comes up.” He yanked Riordan toward him until their
heads touched. “If I catch you following us, I will kill her immediately. Do you
understand?”
    Nhaille nodded grimly. With a last pleading look at Riordan, he turned and
walked away into the darkness.
    #
    Trussed like a turkey, bound hand and foot, Riordan lay slung over Rau's
horse and wished wholeheartedly for a moment when each step the animal took
didn't knife into her ribs. Her left eye had long since swollen completely shut
and the world swayed lopsidedly beneath her. Sweat stung the wound and the
blowing sand only added to her misery. After two days under the blistering sun,
she smelled only marginally better than Rau's horse.
    Suddenly the world slid sideways. She hit the ground hard.
    Thunk!
    Riordan sprawled unceremoniously on the hard ground. Staring up through one
eye at Rau's dark shape silhouetted against the sun, she realized she'd fallen
asleep.
    He kicked at her side. “Get up.”
    Making a scoop of her bound hands, she caught the edge of his boot and
toppled him backward.
    Rau hit the ground with a curse. Riordan scrambled awkwardly to her feet. In
a zig-zagging hop, she raced for the abandoned horse.
    He snagged her hair, yanking her backward.
    “Just full of spunk, aren't you?”
    She spat at him.
    “Well, Your Majesty. Were I you, I'd save my strength.”
    Riordan answered him with a head-butt to the stomach.
    With a vehement curse, Rau doubled up on the ground. Despite the pain, he
refused to lessen his grip on her hair, and after a few more unsuccessful
attempts to wrestle from his grasp, she sagged to the ground beside him.
    “You Khun-Caryns have fire for blood,” he said with grudging admiration.
    “And you, Haelian scum, are lower than a snake.”
    Doubling over again, Rau laughed despite his wounded stomach. “Were the
situation different, I might actually like you.”
    Riordan offered him her finest glare. “Were the situation different, I would
kill you, Your Highness. Mark my words.”
    He sobered then. Casting a glance at her, disheveled and panting with anger,
he snorted. “I must say, you've looked better, Your Majesty.”
    “How in Hells would you know? No one's ever seen me.”
    “You were rumored to be very beautiful.”
    “Until I got a burning coal in the eye.”
    For a moment, Rau looked almost remorseful. “I doubt the damage is
permanent.”
    Riordan shrugged. “No matter. I need only live long enough to kill you.”
    “Do you think of nothing else?”
    “No.”
    Rau sighed. “Then I guess we have nothing to discuss.”
    “On the contrary.” Riordan turned her good eye to face him. Under other
circumstances she might have considered him handsome, but there was an intensity
to his gaze that betrayed the madness hovering just below the surface. “I should
dearly like to know what it is that drives a man to level an entire kingdom.
What twisted ugliness inside motivates someone to defile the bodies of our dead?
What breeds such wickedness? An unhappy childhood? Or were you born that
way?”
    “Enough!”