Chapter 54

She edged her way steadily down the slope until it began to even out, determined to reach the valley floor as soon as possible.

Before long the ground had flattened enough for her to stand without fear of falling. It was hard to gauge the position of the sun through the canopy overhead, but she judged it was approaching midday by the time she felt confident in stopping her progress and turning in the direction she believed to be south.

As long as she kept the slope on her right, she reasoned, she would eventually reach the point where the valley opened back out on to the plains.

Netya had never thought of herself as a particularly capable young woman, but over the course of the last few months that had begun to change.

A year ago she would not have had a clue how to mend a broken spear, but as soon as Khelt presented her with her father’s weapon she had immediately set her mind to repairing it, and in trying, she had succeeded. Even yesterday, she had come fa