As Jana and Inanna flee northwards on two horses of the slain mercenaries, they need to get past several groups of the mercenary bandits, at various taverns along the way, and they learn more details about the invasion, and also about a covert action taking place in preparation for the invasion. They also learn that the King's son has been discovered in the care of a certain important Captain in the army, who is currently with troops in the south. This could only be a reference to Jana herself, and so somehow Leila and the boy had been discovered by the King, and have been taken to the palace. Presently, it is discovered that there is a plot to kill the infant by a team of snipers, to demoralize the Horse People, or at least the King.
Jana is shocked, but she manages to stay calm. But when she reluctantly reveals this to Inanna, she is furious. Even never having seen the little boy in question, being fiercely protective of everyone, she is now so angry, she races off northward, with Jana chasing her, asking her to be careful. They run down a roadblock, and Jana has to cover her with her arrows, and when they reach the easiest ford at which to cross the river, there are horsemen chasing after them. They dismount, and Jana urges greater stealth as Inanna and she lead their horses to the water's edge, trying not to be noticed by the border guards, but as the horses reach midstream, the pursuing guards raise the alarm, and both girls are hit by arrows. One horse is hurt badly, and dies in the water. Somehow the horse that Jana is on gets across the river and up the further bank, and Jana barely manages to grab Inanna and get ashore, an arrow in her shoulder, and Inanna too is hurt, and soon the horse stumbles, and they have to walk, expecting to encounter a Rider patrol at any moment. But they never meet one. Jana is puzzled by the unprotected state of the border, but they drag themselves and the injured horse to a guardpost that is empty. Jana binds up Inanna's injury, and then falls exhausted.
Some hours later, Inanna has recovered enough to nurse Jana back to consciousness, and to tend to the horse according to Jana's instructions. In the wee hours, a patrol comes through, and mistakes Jana and Inanna to be foreigners, since they're dressed as people from the west. With great difficulty, Jana establishes that she is the legendary Captain Jana. Apparently the permanent patrols have been withdrawn to the Capital.
Jana is running a high fever. She explains as well as she can about the plot to assassinate the little boy, but finds it difficult in her fevered state. The two women are put in a carriage and driven at top speed to the City of the Horse People, just in time to witness an arrow kill Leila, who is walking in the gardens with the little boy. But someone manages to rescue the baby, and the sniper is attacked and killed, after which there is a major battle at the river.
Too sick to participate in the battle, Jana remains in bed, but all the news coming in indicates that it is going well for the Horse People. Apparently the citizenry have gotten up the courage to resist the mercenaries, and being attacked on two fronts, the Mercenaries are losing all their battles.
To Jana's surprise, Queen Ione's daughter, Princess Ianthe, has returned to the City of the Horse People. Inanna, now serious, asks Jana to clarify the relationship between herself and the Princess. "Why did you stop loving her?" she asks. Jana really has no good answer; she had merely given up romance for about a year, but then Leila had come back into her life, and they had been companions until Jana had come to the aid of Inanna's village. And now Leila was dead.
Ianthe visits Jana and Inanna, bringing the baby with her. The King has asked
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