The buckskin mare trotted along in thought for a while, rotating her ears to pick up as much details of their surroundings as possible. "We are currently surrounded by rebels, including at least four scouts in the trees. While I'm sure we are too valuable to kill if we try to escape now, we are also too valuable to allow to get away. We must not risk Sassy and Anya's safety. Therefore, I suggest we wait for nightfall and sneak away undercover."
"I thought as much," Dmitri said with a nod. "We wait then. Keep your ears and eyes sharp. Better to plan our escape."
Sassy sighed. Things were getting far too complicated for her taste, and she was beginning to worry over her unborn foal. Was this what they called a mother's instinct? Or perhaps, knowing this foal could very well be considered the next heir to the throne, no matter that the sire was a horse, she felt a royal responsibility.
She fretted over Anya, too. Even if her foal was not her own, she wished to see both it and its mother delivered safely.
Eventually, they reached the rebels' camp, little more than a hastily erected outpost in the woods. Other horses were corralled together near the outskirts. To their surprise, they were kept nearer to the center of the camp, almost right next to the large tent that obviously served as their camp's headquarters. They supposed their value necessitated this placement.
A wall was being built around the area, but was only about half finished. Still, it limited the number of escape routes.
"This will complicate things," Yevgeney snorted. "But it may also be a good opportunity."
"How so?" Sassy asked.