Cai kept praying to the god of slaves as he ran up the lower slopes of the mountain, but he had waited too long, and he could see the slave lifts rising when he was still a long way short of where they ascended from. He kept running, in the hope that Orinn Neped was not on one of the first lifts, although he knew that was a futile hope. Orinn was the father of a champion, so of course he went up first. Climbing the foothills, he began to see other travellers, and realised the danger he had put himself in. There were no Nepeds, but he was seeing nobles from other houses, and particularly Kawabatas. That was bad. He was a naked branded slave running alone. What would he say if they stopped him? That he was bringing a message to his master? That might work, or they might interrogate him further, or send him back, or detain him as a runaway…