Lloyd pointed to the animal then handed to her his water sack, and she nearly drowned from her incredibly quick drinking.
She gagged and coughed and Lloyd pushed her forward and rubbed the centre of her back.
The woman soon caught her breath and quietly looked at her two gallant saviours.
"My name is Lloyd Bartlett and this is Boyce Loebh …" something kept him from finishing the whole name and Boyce was relieved. "… we are making our way to the south."
"We are in a hurry to get to our destination, so we took this route.
It is shorter by several days."
By the manner of Boyce's speech, Lloyd knew that Boyce didn't want any details of their journey to be revealed.
"You almost had yourself stomped into the ground by that animal. What are you doing in these woods?"
The woman looked to the dead animal and at Boyce. When she spoke, she turned to Lloyd.
"I was running." she said, and the two men eagerly listened. "My father is an over-lord. He wanted to force me into a marriage with a Teniqués. I refused and he had me whipped and branded." she pulled the single support strap from her shoulder and exposed the breast of the same side, that looked scarred, with the symbol of a trident burned on it.
Lloyd lifted the shoulder support back onto her shoulder covering her up.