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Gray set aside the note, picked up the book, and riffled the pages "Plants fro, and" He closed the book and studied the cover "Cassie’s mother wrote this book Cassie said her , but I didn’t realizeNo wonder she understands the land so well"
"So this is good?"
"Better than good It’s--" Gray’s eyes widened and his face paled He grabbed the bouquet fro You have to distract her She’ll notice I’round, and she’ll ask about it, and I can’t lie to her I can’t And she can’t see what her mother sent She’ll know then, and it will spoil the surprise"
"What am I supposed to do?"
"Theran"
Step up to the line, Grayhaven, and be his shield What he feels for Cassidy is so
"Get that stuff tucked away," Theran said as he rose and turned toward the house
"Thanks,Theran"
He watched Gray bolt for the stone shed, then hurried to intercept Cassidy
"Is soot close enough to hear her
"He’s fine," Theran replied, taking her arot a bundle of work he wants to get done today"
She wasn’t dressed for spending tiood or bad, since she always spent tiive hi to back away fro around him At first Gray had been pleased about that, but that had changed more andto co back to his hoe for a couple of days, and he and Powell said there was soent I needed to do before Ranon left, but they weren’t clear about what that was, and said I should talk to you"
Theran tossed a psychic thread toward Ranon Next tiave her a reason to coure out why she’s supposed to be stuck at a desk for the next few hours
Go piss yourself He didn’t say it, but the feeling traveled through the link between the was quite mutual
What could he ask her to do that had to be done before Ranon left?
They were on the terrace and almost to the door before he had an answer
"The Shalador Queens," Theran said "You need to write a letter inviting the Queens on the Shalador reserves to oes back to his village That’s why it’s urgent"
"You don’t want me to contact the Queens in Dena Nehele," Cassidy said "You’ve opposed that suggestion every time I’ve made it"
"See with each other Now" He shrugged
"You really want me to contact the Queens on the reserves?"
"Yes, I do" Besides, he added silently, it’s not likely any of them will come
He opened the door for her "Coh the paperwork Powell seeht, you’ll be free the rest of the day to save the posies from the nasty weeds"
She stopped in the doorway and looked at him as if she suddenly saw a different man
"You don’t have a feel for the land, do you?" she asked "It’s just dirt and boundaries to you"
"I don’t fuss over it like you and Gray seem to," he said dismissively "It’s the people that "
"How do you take care of one without taking care of the other?"
Since she didn’t wait for hiuessed she didn’t expect one
Gray set the ite bench, one by one, and ift
Cassie’s mother had written this book Cassie’s mother had sent this box No hasty reply to his letter, but a bundle of information fro to put down roots in her daughter’s heart
And the flowers, preserved in shields so he could study theiven him a fierce kind of love He didn’t know if it was because she was unable to be soft, or if because he’d been destined for the killing fields, she hadn’t wanted to give hi a warrior wouldn’t need
He could still see her face, filled with hard pride, on the evening when Talon came to take him to the mountain camps He’d been seven years old, but there had been no tears, no hugs To her, he was already a warrior To her, he always had been