The Akalak purposely rescued slaves from slavers. And he knew, even though most of the human world could not tell, that she was still incredibly young. He knew because she wasn't the first woman who'd rode before him on his saddle wrapped in a blanket, returned from certain death to be passed on to another uncertain future. And she wouldn't be the last.
But he told her to forget, that the past wasn't important, and that the only thing she could cling too was the future. She understood that well. Her past was gone like the dead strider that had ghosted up beside Gural's horse and paced it with his eye on his mistress. The horse came from nowhere and walked without a limp at all. Kavala stared at Windsong and wondered why his spirit hadn't gone back to the web like it should have. Instead it haunted her, and the man she rode with. The man, glancing sideways, seemed to see the horse too and raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Yours?" He seemed to ask, and she shook her head. Horses in death belonged to no one but Semele and Zulrav, no matter how real and material they looked. Windsong bumped her knee in greeting, upset she was riding the strange horse, and even though it felt so real, Kavala closed her eyes and let tears fall.
Most of all she regretted her horses fall, his death, and loosing him who'd been with her more than fifteen years.
Gural was still talking about the slavers. She'd heard most of it, but couldn't understand why he was so angry. They'd done nothing to the Akalak, only to the women the Akalak would then use, benefiting from the practice, even if it was in a round about way. She amazed him? Kavala remained silent. She amazed herself that she hadn't followed Windsong into death. Perhaps thats why he was there now, shadowing them, because he'd lingered behind waiting on his rider, determined to carry her to the afterlife as well.
But it wasn't meant to be, that final death. Instead, they rode through the day and camped at night, the women given their own tents to sleep in. The next day they rode on again, until finally they reached a great river and turned to follow it to the sea. The warriors took the women to a tower called the Oathmasters Tower where they received medical attention (she barely remembered the invasive exams and the judgement of her body and mental status) and were cared for as a group. Their roles were explained thoroughly as well as the rules and options. They were shown the rooms they would live in at the Tower if they chose not to agree with the Akalak policies. Kavala was checked out, healed, and along with the other females received a large silver bracelet that was then wielded to her wrist. She couldn't remove it. Then the group of them, minus one who had to remain behind for more extensive medical treatment (it was whispered she was pregnant and the Akalak were going to take care of it), were moved to Godiva's for a weeks rest and some time off.
Kavala never saw Gural after that first trip to Riverfall. She did, however, see her horse again and again. It wasn't until the aging strider was caught and lured into a stables with grain did she finally believe he was alive and come to realize she had to make a place for him as equally as she had to make a place for herself.
It was shortly thereafter that she petitioned the council for land, signed her life away buying it, and tired to make a life for herself. Tried.
