Megrac

...Many weeks earlier...

Ryheric and the black colt Son of Mouse (whom he secretly named Kacis - Escape) spent weeks of travel in haste, and hidden off the main roads where possible.

The horse was paced, and took to the routines and rhythms well. Their travels were far from trouble-free. But Kacis was a good horse, and Ryheric taking troubled paths was like a duck in water. So familiar was he to this way of life.

He drank in the wilderness and his solitude.