Ebony had awoken shortly after Ariadne, and upon her return was poking some life back into the fire, to reheat the remains of the meal from the previous night.  She felt stiff all over, the constant riding, and training and sleeping on the ground was not at all what she was used to. Ebony gazed down at her roughened palms.<br/><br/><em>This plan had better work!</em>she thought. She was relieved now that her father had not gone, in his advanced age there was no way he could have slept rough like they were. Of course the young woman reflected this was only the beginning.