“Speakin’ of anything,” Coram said as he banked the fire for the night. “What next? Where do we go in the morning?”
Somplace new? Faithful wanted to know. His tail was twitching with excitement.
Alanna crawled into her bedroll, feeling exhausted but satisfied. “Well, we need to take the sorceress’s envelope to Halef Seif.” She yawned. “It must be pretty important, or she wouldn’t have tried to burn it rather than let anyone she didn’t trust have it.”
“Very well. And then?”
“I think we’ll ride south,” Alanna told her companions. “King Barnesh of Maren is holding a great tournament in April. I want to start acting like a knight again. And maybe we’ll find some adventures along the way. Sound good?”
It’s about time, Faithful grumbled as he curled up beside her nose.
From his own bedroll, Coram said, “It sounds beautiful. Now get some rest, Lioness.”
Alanna reached beside her and found Lightning’s hilt. She gripped her restored blade as she moved toward sleep, a weary smile on her lips. Her first year as a knight was over. She had survived. And if there was trouble ahead, well, she was ready for it.
ALSO BY TAMORA PIERCE
SONG OF THE LIONESS QUARTET
Alanna: The First Adventure (Book I)
In the Hand of the Goddess (Book II)
The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (Book III)
Lioness Rampant (Book IV)
THE IMMORTALS QUARTET
Wild Magic (Book I)
Wolf-Speaker (Book II)
Emperor Mage (Book III)
The Realms of the Gods (Book IV)
ATHENEUM BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1986 by Tamora Pierce All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
ATHENEUM BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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Also available in an Atheneum Books for Young Readers hardcover edition Book design by Mike Rosamilia The text for this book is set in Stempel Garamond.
First Atheneum Books for Young Readers paperback edition April 2011
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Tamora Pierce.
The woman who rides like a man / by Tamora Pierce
New York : Atheneum, 1986.
253 p. : ill., map : 22 cm
“An Argo book.”
(Pierce, Tamora. Song of the lioness ; bk. III)
Summary: On her first tour as a knight errant, Alanna assumes a position of influence with a fierce desert tribe, makes some changes in the role of women in the society, and continues her own emotional development.
ISBN 978-0-689-85429-3 (hc)
1. Knights and knighthood—Fiction. 2. Sex role—Fiction
PZ7.P61464 WO 1986
[Fic] dc—19 850020054
ISBN 978-1-4424-2765-5 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-4391-1514-5 (eBook)
The Woman Who Rides Like a Man Page 17
