Prince Hew and the Haj Mota Chariot Content . " Hafzifeh ! I mean , Your Semi - Excellency ! " It was Jengesh the page boy , in a sweat from having run up the stairs . " The Prince wants you right away , in the stables ! Hurry ! " " Now what ? " I said , as I shoved Ralliballah ' s Eleven Ritual Forms under my desk blotter — the Prince had forbidden magic in the palace ever since his attempt to learn the Water Breathing spell had left him temporarily unable to breathe anything but water . ( I ' d told him he was inverting the fifth and sixth syllables , but he ' d ignore me . ) " Are the skeevers into the oats again ? " " Nope ! " Jengesh smiled slyly . " You ' ll have to see this for yourself . " Prince Hew was pacing impatiently back and forth before the door to the stables , taking care to keep his curly - toed golden slippers out of the dung . " Ah ! There you are , Hafzi ! I have something to show you — and this time I know you ' ll be impressed ! " He waved one silk - clad arm toward his ever - present bodyguard , and Big Dhorlun slid the stable door open on its rollers . Inside was the ugliest thing I ' d ever seen . It looked like a Ra Gada war chariot , but it was oversized , with four wheels instead of two , and with a big gold - fringed umbrella on a gilded frame over the rider ' s box . The box itself was garishly painted with glowing rainbows , the Prince ' s chosen symbol ( " Because I ' m ' Prince Hue ' — get it ? " ) , and silver spatter - boards were mounted over the wheels to keep mud from besmirching the driver . The whole affair looked as heavy as an oxcart in a quarry . " Isn ' t it glorious ? " the Prince asked . " It ' s glorious , isn ' t it ? " he repeated , pointedly . " Glorious . " " G - glorious . Yes , indeed . Exactly . " I said . " It ' s also . . . rather large . But it looks to me like it would take about eight horses to draw it , and right now we have only six . " " Horses ? Pfah ! Horses are for the ordinary ! My new princely chariot will be drawn by . . . a haj mota ! " " A devil - tortoise ? But no one ' s ever tamed one — it can ' t be done . And where would Your Highness get it , anyway ? " " I have one already ! " said Prince Hew , proudly twirling his handlebar moustache . " I bought it from a Bosmeri merchant , who tamed it with soporific bug - smoke . Come see ! " And he led the way further into the stable . That ' s when the screaming began . Normally I wouldn ' t use a hoary cliche like " blood - curdling shrieks , " but really , my heart froze at the sound , terrible wails from both humans and horses . Morad the stable - hand came running from the pens , wide - eyed , followed by a Wood Elf I didn ' t recognize . I got in his way , and when he tried to push past me I grabbed him by one of his cosmetic antlers . " Ow ! Stop it , lady ! Run for it ! " " Tell me what happened , and I ' ll let you go , " I snarled , twisting the antler for emphasis . " It ' s the haj mota ! It must ' ve gotten used to the sleep - smoke , because it woke up — mad ! " He looked over his shoulder , trembling . " It ' s eating the horses ! And we ' re next — let me go ! " I let him go . And then , out of the depths of the barn , came the thundering devil - tortoise , its jaws still dropping gobbets of horse . It was charging straight toward Prince Hew , who stood stock - still , watching it . I realized he was paralyzed with fear . I barely made it , but I tackled the Prince and knocked him out of the way just before the haj mota would have trampled him . It passed us , then stopped short and turned — it was shockingly nimble — and whacked Dhorlun with its heavy tail , sending him flying in one direction , and his two - handed sword in another . Then it focused on us , murder in its red , piggy eyes . I was sprawled atop Prince Hew , who was pawing at me with his pudgy hands and bleating , " Save me , Hafzi ! Save me ! " As the thing stepped closer and opened its great beak I tried to think of a spell , any spell , but with the Prince wheezing at me my mind was a blank . The Prince . . . wheezing . . . Suddenly a spell formed in my mind , I blurted it out , and slapped the haj mota on its nose . Magicka poured from me and into the beast , which blinked , snorted , and began to shake its head left and right . It opened its jaws wide and burst out in great , wracking gasps , and then flung its legs out and flopped down , lungs heaving . In less than a minute it was dead , suffocated . Because it couldn ' t find any water to breathe . I helped the Prince up , dusting off his silken robes , except for the part where he ' d sat in horse dung , which I pretended not to notice . " What . . . what happened to it , Hafzi ? " he said . His eyes narrowed . " You didn ' t use any magic on it , did you ? " " It . . . must have been a delayed reaction to the bug - smoke . A breathing problem ! " I nodded emphatically . " Yes , it must have been the smoke . Remember the time I wore that Rihad musk and you couldn ' t stop sneezing ? Like that ! " " Ah . Yes . Well , that was lucky , wasn ' t it ? Dhorlun , run after that merchant and get my money back ! I ' m going to have to buy another six horses . " He looked fondly at the hideous chariot . " Maybe eight ! "