Moonstone sighed. He hated to admit that Dmitri was right. At some point, he would have to trust the other boy. He just wasn't ready to trust him completely yet. He slowly let go of the Gypsy's belt and glared, keeping his knife out and handy, just in case. "Fine. Go. But if you aren't back in a very short time, I'm coming to find you and if you've betrayed me, I'll kill you."

Dmitri grinned and pulled the former slave close, nuzzling at the pouting lips in front of him. "And I'll gladly let you, little lamb," he promised, placing a soft kiss there. "But for now, I need to go get the bags one of the others left to help us out. Just stay here for a moment and I'll be back. And once we get away from here, I have something for us to celebrate with, okay?" Without waiting for an answer, he kissed the pale boy fiercely, allowing himself a lingering moment of domination games as both mouths opened, followed by their tongues engaging in a quick melee before he backed away regretfully.

Moonstone found himself backing against the horse in a daze, and he was quite certain there was a stupid grin on his face as he watched the taller boy slip out the stable doors. "I've got to be completely mad," he confided to the snowy animal. He got a quiet snuffle in response, and he turned, wrapping his arms around the horse's neck, burying his face against the short, warm fur.

Strangely, the wait for Dmitri didn't take long. When Moonstone opened his eyes again, the Gypsy was behind him, laughing softly. He raised an eyebrow quizzically and was rewarded with another kiss.

"You've certainly grown fond of him." Dark eyes sparkled in amusement. "I hope that bodes well for me."

"Well, you haven't sniffed me looking for food," Moonstone remarked wryly. "But you've kept your word so far and very probably kiss better."

"If you even try it, all deals are off," the Gypsy retorted with a grin. "But in the meantime, put these on, okay?"

"Why?" he asked. "I never wear shoes or boots."

"No, but you'll need to if this is going to work," Dmitri told him patiently. "They'll know something isn't right if they see bare footprints both going in and coming out of the stables."

"But I thought I was taking the horse," the blonde said, obviously confused. "What are you doing with those things?"

"I'm weighting the horse," Dmitri explained. "This way, if there are any trackers that are any good, which I'm hoping are no more than serviceable, then they won't realize that you never took the horse.

"You see, a horse's hoofprints will be lighter if it is on it's own, versus if it carries a rider on it's back," he told Moonstone. "Therefore, if they see that the prints are a bit deeper, they'll believe that you're on the horse and took it to get away. Not using a saddle and bridle, as well as your little spill from earlier will make it more believable that you did this on your own, so they won't pay any attention to a set of two people'e footprints leaving here, you see?"

"But won't they be a bit suspicious when there are two other horses missing?" Moonstone questioned, watching Dmitri secure the carefully weighted packs onto the horse's back.

"No," the Gypsy said. "Because we aren't taking any horses. We're going on foot."

"Then we'll never catch up with the rest of the caravan!" Moonstone complained.

"Nonsense. I already told you that Martika is pregnant. Raoul won't go very fast and will stop every night," Dmitri explained. "In the meantime, we will travel on foot to make it harder to track us, and you can get some color into your skin before we have to stop at another city with the others. Maybe they won't believe that you're from this area, or even that you're one of us, obviously, but I bet that one of the ways you'll be described as is very pale. I've also got something put away that should help you blend in a little more, but we'll worry about that later."

Moonstone eyed his lover. "Exactly how long have you been planning this again?" he questioned.

"On my own, I never would have been able to come up with all of it," Dmitri admitted. "But thankfully, Lennox and his brother Henset have had to do something like this before." He lead the horse to the back doorway which lead out to the desert and gave it a hard swat on the rump, sending it galloping out into the night and turned, leaving the door ajar. "Now, let's you and I leave this place."