Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own any of Tamora Pierces characters. It's all hers.

A/N: This is my first fanfic. It is about Onua and how she survived and made a new life after being left to die by her husband. Enjoy.

Chapter 1: Pain

Onua Chamtong slowly came to. Every pore of her body seemed to throb with pain. She looked down and grimaced at her bruised and swollen body. That bastard she thought, and a few tears squeezed out her eyes and ran down her swollen face onto dry and parched lips. She hastily swiped the tears away. No time for tears she thought, and pushed her sorrow away to the back of her mind. Slowly and painfully, she pushed herself upright in order to look at her surroundings.

Onua was in a small valley. Tall, snow peaked mountains, their jagged peaks cutting through clouds, surrounded the valley, broken only by a small pass. A small stream cut through the valley and disappeared into the mountains. Tall swaying grass covered the whole valley, and in the distance Onua could see dense forest at the foot of the mountains. Onua scanned the valley and the caught her breath.

At the far end of the valley, grazing peacefully on the long grasses, were a herd of horses. They were mostly dun colored, and blended well with the brown grasses. But at the head of the herd was a magnificent stallion. He was over 16 hands, and was jet black. The only other color was a white star on his forehead. He was at the peak of his fitness, and magnificent to behold. Onua could see some black foals sired by their father. They will be magnificent one day Onua thought. All her life she had loved horses. But the K'miri Raadeh was a warrior tribe, and her parents wanted Onua to be a warrior, or a wife of a warrior. She had picked the latter, thinking anything was better than being forced to die for the sake of a battle that has raged for hundreds of years. How wrong she was.

Mekiri Chamtong was handsome, with jet clack hair and strong features. When he had asked her family to marry her, he had seemed to yearn for her. Although her family tried to talk her out of it, she agreed. Onua now knew it was hunger, not love she had seen. He was a cruel man, and when he wasn't in battle he was often drunk and in rage. Through her muddled mind she pieced together what had happened that night. Mekiri was more drunk then usual, and came back in a dark rage after losing a battle. He had taken his rage onto Onua. Brutally beating her, he accused Onua of sleeping with another man. "I have to teach you K'miri bitch a lesson." He snarled at her, and, putting a sack on her head, through her on to a horse and rode off. How long and in what direction, Onua didn't know, but she remembered the sack being taken off and being thrown on the ground. She then lost consciousness. And here I am Onua thought bitterly. But she pushed those dark thought aside. She couldn't think of the past, not when she had to survive.

I am a K'miri she thought stubbornly and K'miri are built for survival. Licking her lips, Onua decided water should be her first priority. Onua felt more in control with something to do. But standing up took more energy than she thought. Her head swam dizzily as she staggered toward the stream. Onua judged that the stream was about 6 yard away. No problem she thought, but as she slowly made her way toward the stream, it seemed much farther than she thought. At every step, her feet seemed to get heavier and heavier, and when she finally got to the stream, she was too exhausted to stand and had to lie down. She greedily slurped down water, almost chocking as she tried breath and drink at the same time. Finally, her thirst slaked, Onua stopped drinking. But as her thirst subsided, her hunger roared to life. Too tired to forage for food, she drank water to dull the keen edge of hunger. She then allowed sleep to slip over her, content knowing the horses will warn her of any approaching predator

A/N: I wrote and posted this story originally in February. But I realized how much work it needed after ch3, so I decided to take it off and re-post it, with the corrections. So, did you like it? Love it? Please review