<em>No, they don't turn people into devourers. They just devour people.</em>Celeste did not give voice to her thoughts, as she didn't want to concern Maia needlessly. She would discover the truth about the Chelaxians if and when she met them, which would hopefully not be anytime soon.<br/><br/>"If I minded I would not have offered." Celeste braced herself in the saddle, for the Shory woman was taller and stronger, but Maia seemed to accept her hand only as a courtesy, climbing up on her own instead. There was a certain blushing shyness about her that made Celeste curious. She had not shown the same timidity towards the guards.<br/><br/>When Maia had settled behind her, she took the woman's arm and brought it to her waist. "You'll need to be closer," she said, casting a glance over her shoulder, a glimmer of amusement in her eyes, "in case the horse spooks again. Like this." She guided Maia's other arm forward, so that they were sitting closer than Maia perhaps intended, arms clasped about Celeste's waist. "Now, just hold on. There's more to it if we go faster, but then you might end up on the ground."<br/><br/>She was only being practical, she told herself, as she brought the horse to a brisk walk. At the question of fainting, she shook her head. The breeze had picked up, and wisps of her silky brown hair caught it as she moved, brushing against Maia's face. "It will last until we reach the outpost, so long as we don't delay. Thank you for the concern, however."<br/><br/>Besides, she was too weary to be very flirtatious. She ached from head to toe, her hair was damply matted to her forehead, and she still felt winded. A warm meal, a bath, and a chance to curl up somewhere dark and quiet occupied her thoughts.<br/><br/>Two of the guards rode ahead, while the other two followed. Weaving through the ruins, it did not take long for them to reach the broader main road, then the palisade encircling the outpost. The gates were open, with a dozen guards lined up before it; they moved aside upon seeing the riders. The Taldan flag, a green and blue field with gold crown and white lion, flew from a post.<br/><br/>A crowd had gathered at the plaza beyond the gate. A row of spearmen formed their own palisade about three white-robed priests of Sarenrae, who were kneeling over someone moaning on the ground. Malhar, she realized. Dugald stood nearby, his brow creased with worry. Ranks of laborers, sailors, merchants, and craftspeople formed a milling, murmuring swarm. Lines of carts and wagons slowed as they passed by on the Pier Road, the main thoroughfare, drivers craning their necks to see what had happened. To the left the road curved past reconstructed buildings, to the right it descended along a stone wall to the harbor, where several proud ships of the line bobbed on the waves.<br/><br/>It was more people than Maia had probably seen for centuries.<br/><br/>"We'll walk the rest of the way to the palace," Celeste announced, and looked to the Shory woman, expecting her to dismount.<br/>