Emma was strong enough to ride again, but I knew she was still hurting. She was so damnably proud. She was the proud fighter from One, too proud to be called a princess and afraid that if she admitted she was hurt, she'd look like one. I was worried about her. She wasn't in top fighting shape anymore. She wanted me to think she was, and she'd act like she was if we got into a fight. She was going to get herself killed trying to prove she was still strong.

We'd been out looking for Rapture for two days. Either we hadn't crossed paths with us or he'd seen us coming and was laying low. Our horses gave us an advantage in height, but they were a hindrance in the stealth department.

"I'm going to call her Glissade," Emma said, petting her pony's mane.

"What, the horse?" I asked.

"A horse is a noble beast. She should have a noble name," Emma said.

"Trust a One to name a horse Glissade," I said. "Why not Sparklies? Bauble? Shinypoo? Or just straight up Expensive?"

"What's yours named?" Emma sniffed.

"Bob," I said.

"What kind of name is Bob?" Emma said in a scandalized tone. "You can't name a noble steed Bob!" she leaned off her horse to look at Bob's underbelly. "She's a girl!"

"Oh now you're a horse expert?" I asked.

"Boys are the same all over and that's no boy," Emma said. I stroked Bob's mane lovingly.

"She looks like a Bob to me."

I kept an eagle eye on the flowers as we went past another garden. We were lucky to get away from one tiger alive. I didn't want to get anywhere near another one. We skirted around the garden and rode past a ring of neatly groomed ash trees. Something fell from the tree and I almost jumped off my horse, I was so nervous. But it was only a branch. A broken green branch that fell in front of Emma. It fell so quickly and seemed so innocuous that I didn't look closely until it was too late. It was inches above Glissade's face when I saw it clearly.

Party favors...

All around the Arena, Rose had left bags of party favors. We came across them now and then while we hunted. They only ever had a handful of candy and a few little toys. They weren't enough for anyone to live on, so we just took any candy we liked and dumped out the rest when we found a bag. But Rose had invited boys to her party, and she put some toys in just for them. Toys like a green rubber snake. But it was too late to do anything.

The snake plopped down across Glissade's forehead and draped itself across her face. The horse immediately shied, tossing her head frantically and backing up a step. Emma screamed as Glissade reared up on two legs, throwing her to the ground. She landed hard and I was sure Glissade would trample her in her panic. Instead, the horse bolted, tossing her head and kicking wildly. Bob pawed anxiously and pulled at the reins with contagious fear.

Something else dropped out of the tree, something much bigger than a snake. I heard branches crackling as a huge weight shifted in the leaves. It was too late to do anything as Rapture plummeted out of the tree, holding a sharpened branch in both hands like a spear. He landed on top of Emma as she lay on the ground. His feet struck her stomach and the internal damage might have killed her if his spear hadn't done it quicker. The branch splintered under the force of his fall as it crunched into her chest. She cried out as he hit her stomach, and blood spurted from her mouth as the spear followed.

Rapture looked up at the sound of my scream. I hadn't had time to react to losing Emma yet, so it was all rage. I spurred Bob on toward Rapture. It was too late so save her but it wasn't too late to kill him. He took one look at the horse barreling toward him and fled. Emma stirred weakly as Bob neared her. I yanked on the reins and the horse jumped easily over her.

If Rapture had run for the tree, he might have had a chance. But he didn't think, and he ran across the grass. He could run all he wanted. He couldn't outrun a horse. He'd pulled out the spear to defend himself, but it was broken and blunted. He couldn't do anything without the force he generated by jumping from a tree.

I pulled my sword from its scabbard as Bob galloped toward Rapture. She was so fast I barely had time to get it out before we were beside him. Rapture tried to jump to the side, but I could still reach him. I swung my sword across him from Bob's back and slashed him all across his back. He tripped forward and almost fell as he turned around. I yanked Bob's reins to turn him in a tight circle. As Rapture vainly tried to flee, I closed the distance between us again and swept by him, slashing him again. On the next sweep, he tried to grab Bob's reins. I slashed his hand and nearly severed it. He was streaming blood from half a dozen cuts, and that had been his last desperate attempt. He fell to his knees, panting and wriggling.

I slowed Bob to a stop and regarded Rapture from ten feet away. I was going to kill him, but I was going to do it right. Not mercifully- I didn't care about that. Right. I wasn't going to make any stupid mistakes and I wasn't going to give him half a chance to get back up. He was half dead, but a half dead Career was still far too dangerous. I could dismount and finish him with my sword, but something might happen. I was thinking realistically. He was trained, experienced, and brutal. He could still kill me if I wasn't careful. Killing him with my sword would have been the easier way. But I couldn't afford it, and I wasn't sorry.

I backed Bob up and dug my heels into her side, urging her back to full speed. Her sides heaved at the exertion as we sped toward Rapture. I knew what she'd do when we got close to my victim. Horses were flighty, gentle animals. If they saw a human, they'd get out of his way. I waited until the last second, until the instant before Bob would have shied to one side to avoid trampling Rapture. Then I grabbed the reins and leaned back with all my weight.

The pressure on Bob's jaws coupled with the shift in balance made her rear. I tightened my legs around her to hold myself on her back as she went nearly vertical. She stumbled back a step on her hind legs to avoid overbalancing, bringing her front legs into position. Rapture screamed as he saw what was coming. But it was too late.

Bob's front legs crashed back down. Her silver horseshoes glistened in the sun as they arced down toward Rapture. Then their shine was dulled by flecks of red. Bob blocked my view of the impact, but I knew it was fatal. I heard the thud, and then I heard the cannon.