Seeing Britt’s crew arrive en masse, Red said in protest, “What is this? You can’t bring your whole crew to such a sacred ceremony. This decision is for leaders only.” Many of the others nodded, grumbling in agreement.

“A captain can allow those she or he sees fit to join in such an important decision for our people. I treat every member on my crew as an equal and so I gave them the option of whether to participate in this monumental decision or not,” she said firmly, folding her arms across her chest in defiance. “Do you have a problem with the laws of our people?” she asked in a self-assured tone.

Red scowled. As the son of their people’s previous leader, he knew the laws and knew she was right, she could bring any members of her crew that she wished. “This is something I mean to change when I become the next chief,” he said, looking around to the other leaders with a boisterous grin. Many of them nodded in agreement.

“This way of thinking is cancer to our people’s ways. If I’m elected chief, I intend to see these close-minded ideas eradicated from our culture,” Britt said, firm in her beliefs.

Kirsten felt that this wasn’t how most ceremonies started, but it seemed this one had turned political right away. Bo stood close to her and she nudged him with her elbow. He dropped his head close to hers ready to listen to what she had to say.

“Looks like this could take awhile,” she whispered.

Bo raised his eyebrows and nodded.

He motioned his head to the side, mouthed the words, “Come on,” but was careful not to say the words aloud. He backed carefully away from the group and walked around behind the boulders. Already standing near the outer edge of the group, Kirsten allowed Bo to leave first, then followed shortly after to avoid causing a scene in leaving the ceremony they’d obviously been privileged to witness.

The wind streamed steadily across her body as she left the shelter of the rocks.

“Let’s check this place out a little bit,” he said pointing to the grassy plains beyond the sandy borders of the beach.

“We shouldn’t wander too far,” Kirsten said. “If the ceremony ends quickly, I don’t want to miss our ride back to the ships.”

“We don’t have to go far,” he said. “I just want to check out the Barebacks a little. I’ve never been to this side of the plains.”

“The what backs?” Kirsten asked.

“The Barebacks,” Bo said, raising an eyebrow. “The Bareback Plains,” he said again when she didn’t respond. “This grassland is called the Bareback Plains. It’s the largest grassland in Kartania.”

Kirsten quickly tried to play along, nodding and agreeing, “Oh yeah, yeah. Sure, I know about them.”

“Oh, you do, do you? Tell me something about them,” Bo said calling her out.

“Well,” Kirsten began, her eyes darting back and forth as she quickly tried to come up with something clever to say. “The plains are… grasslands and…”

“Home to the largest group of wild horses,” Bo said as she fumbled to come up with something.

“That’s right,” she said unconvincingly.

“You don’t know anything about them, do you?” he asked seeing right through her from the start.

Kirsten flushed and shook her head, “Sorry, I don’t.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Bo said. “I only know this stuff because Max and I used to live on the edge of the plains near Brookside.”

Kirsten raised her eyebrows impressed.

“Come on, let’s walk a little and see if we can see any horses.”

Kirsten joined Bo. They hiked up onto the top of the grassy hill that rose just beyond the edge of the beach. From this slightly higher viewpoint, Kirsten could take in the vast beauty of the plains. For as far as she could see, the green and yellow grass danced lightly in the wind. It looked as if waves of water were washing over the hills as the long grass lay flat from the wind.

The setting sun in the west highlighted the rolling hills scattered in the distance. The contrast of endless ocean with endless grass gave her a peaceful feeling as she examined her surroundings. She inhaled deeply, breathing in the sweetness of the spring grass. As she scanned the area for the horses Bo had mentioned, she noticed thin wispy columns of smoke rising far off in the distance.

She pointed, “Is that smoke? Should we be worried that fire’s spreading this way?”

The wind slapped their faces as they looked out at the plains; it wasn’t hard to imagine a wildfire running through the hills.

“It is smoke,” Bo confirmed. “But I doubt it’ll be coming this way.” Kirsten eyed him warily, not sure if she believed in his confidence that the fire couldn’t move toward them. “There’s a vast city out there,” he continued. “The City of Aquina. It’s home to all who live among the plains and it’s not that far from here.”

Still somewhat skeptical, Kirsten relaxed a bit, feeling more at ease knowing that the columns of smoke likely were just trailing off from warming and cook fires. “Have you ever been there?” she asked peering into the distance.

Bo shook his head, “No, but I really want to go, someday.”

They stood for awhile in silence, watching the sky turn different shades of orange, yellow and violet as the sun sank more profoundly in the west. Kirsten kept looking behind them and down to the beach in case the ceremony ended suddenly, but each time she saw no change – the clan leaders remained huddled within the protection of the boulders apparently deep in political discussion.

“Look,” Bo said, nudging her and pointing.

Kirsten followed his finger and saw a herd of horses galloping across over the plains. “Wow!” she exclaimed. They watched the horses run through the tall grass navigating the ground like a large flock of birds moving across the sky.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Bo asked dreamily.

“Yeah, it is,” Kirsten said looking directly at him. She hoped he would look at her.

Bo kept his eyes fixed on the herd, “They truly are free animals.” He turned to see Kirsten staring starry-eyed at him. Taken by surprise, he jumped slightly.

“Oh, sorry,” Kirsten said reaching for his arms when she realized she’d unintentionally scared him.

Bo laughed placing his hand on Kirsten’s as she held his arm, “That’s alright, you just caught me off guard is all.” He wiped the corners of his mouth and asked, “Do I have something on my face or something?”

“No,” Kirsten said. “I was just…”

“Oh look,” Bo said pointing back at the horses. “They’re coming right at us.”

Kirsten, slightly frustrated and reluctant to look, turned her head to see that the herd of horses was much closer now and was heading straight at them.

“Come on, let’s get down the hill a ways, down to those flats and see how close we can get,” he said starting down the other side of the hill.

Kirsten looked back at the beach. Still no change in the decision. “You really like horses, don’t you?” she asked, following him.

“Come on,” Bo urged as he ran down the hill.

She ran to catch up with him. Bo led them to a small depression at the base of the hill. He crouched inside and motioned for her to stay low as they leaned against the sinkhole’s sloped walls.

They watched as the herd of wild horses galloped into their midst. Kirsten’s instincts told her to get up and run, but Bo held her hand tightly making sure she didn’t leave. She watched wide-eyed as the thundering horses came closer. In a rush, the herd galloped right past them. Kirsten could’ve reached out and touched one if she’d wanted to. She squeezed Bo’s hand and looked at him, smiling from the thrill. He was smiling too, moving his head back and forth watching them as they flew by.

When the last of the horses ran on, Kirsten felt she could finally relax a bit. They watched as the horses slowed their pace and circled back toward them. They came to a trot before moving into a slow walk. The herd spread out in the tall grass around the base of the hill they’d been standing on moments before and began grazing. Kirsten breathed heavily from the adrenaline still pumping through her veins.

“That was incredible,” Bo whispered, looking at Kirsten with a huge smile.

Kirsten hadn’t felt that kind of rush since the attack at the Grandwood Games. She squeezed his hand and exclaimed while still whispering, “Wow, that was awesome!”