And so at last, it was just the two of them.

They'd led their pursuers off from the main party as far as they could for as long as their bodies would allow, but they weren't as young as they once had been. The terrain they were running through was also taking a toll. The Flats were covered with the remnants of an ancient volcanic eruption, full of twisted canyons made from now petrified lava that tore at the hands and knees when they were forced to climb.

On the third day, Larn took an arrow to the shoulder. Rill pulled it out and bound it as best she could, but they both knew it was nearly over.

They'd both known how it would end the moment they had volunteered.

That night, they found a spot large enough to lie together on some blessedly smooth sand and stopped their running.

Rill looked around. "You rest and I'll find some firewood."

"What, and make it easy for the Regent's men to find us? Let be, Rill. We've no more need of fires."

She knelt beside Larn and checked his shoulder. "Old fool. You're bleeding like a stuck pig."

"Twenty years together we've fought side by side in the Guards, fifteen we've shared a bed, and still the nicest thing you can call me is `old fool'. Gods, woman! " He laughed as he took a flask out of the sack he'd carried, then looked back across the rocks. "Bastards built a fire. I wonder who's leading them now?"

"Pahl most likely" She shifted now to sit. "We tried every trick we knew, and they stuck with us. They're good."

"Damn well better be. We trained them, didn't we?" Despite it all, there was still a bit of pride in his voice. He opened the flask, then handed it to Rill without taking his eyes from the distant campfire. "By now the prince and the others should have made the border. The Regent will have his hands full come Spring."

Rill took a deep swallow and started to hand it back to him but Larn gestured for her to take another, and she knew. She lifted it to her lips, her eyes never wavering from his as she took another swallow. Now she could detect the slight sweetness to the liquid. When she handed it back this time, he took two long sips himself. Then he capped the flask and set it carefully in the sand beside him. He held out his good arm, and she slipped under it to settle her head against his chest as they lay there together.

"I'm sorry, Rill. I should have chosen a different path."

She turned so she could see his face. "You chose the right path. You always have, you old... my love." She smiled as he lowered his lips to hers, then they lay there as the night grew colder. She could feel the drink working and knew that it would not be long now. "Larn? Tell me again about that farm, the one we were going to retire to when we were discharged?"

His voice was soft but clear. "The farm. The farm is near the village of my birth, and it sits near a river. At night, when it is still, you can hear the waterfall further up the valley. The fields are lush and green, and you can grow all sorts of crops..."

She lay there listening until his voice stilled, and then her heart.


01/2005