Tomas asked, stopping beside her diplo’s head.“I think so,” she replied, trying to pretend she was unaware that her face was bright red. She turned to see both Karma and Kapia talking to their attendants, neither of them on their diplos. “Is everyone stopping now?”“Yes,” Tomas replied. “Prince Zakiel has decided we’ll camp here for the night, then get an early start in the morning.”“In that case, yes, I would like to get down now, please,” she said, hoping he didn’t notice the slight tremble in her voice. Tomas moved so that he was beside the diplo. “Swing your leg over and slide down,” he said. “Don’t worry, I shall catch you.”In spite of Tomas’s calm words, Tiari was quaking with fear. But it wasn’t Tomas, or the diplo, or even falling that frightened her, though she was a little nervous about that last one. It was the fear of failing. Failing to be what these people expected her to be. Failing to be likable enough for them to want to keep her with them. Failing to learn everything fast enough so that they did not see her as a burden or, worse, a helpless cripple.There was just so much! The past two hours had taught her how little she knew about the world. She’d gone from a cold, dark, lonely existence to an abundance of everything so quickly that it was more than a little overwhelming. Nevertheless, she was determined to learn as much as she could, as quickly as she could, and she had chosen Karma and Kapia as her role models. She’d realized at once that they were strong, brave, confident young women, and she wanted to be like them.The one thing she was not afraid of was returning to her small, dark hut. On that matter she was absolutely and irrevocably decided. She would fight to the death before she allowed anyone to lock her away again.Tiari released her grip on the saddle and cautiously raised her right leg up and over the neck of the diplo. Knowing that Tomas was standing beside her, ready to catch her if she fell, made her feel safe, though she wasn’t sure why since she barely knew him. Once she had her leg over and was sitting sideways on the saddle, she breathed a soft sigh of relief and smiled down at Tomas. “I did it,”
