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Her people seemed particularly well suited to surrender Freedoled to reach all their lives, clawing the s, flawless stone, yet the truth was it rerasp of loried name For all that, she knew that blaspheod, and if it was, and if it had a face turned upon its worshippers, its expression washe or she had never owned

The Letherii slaves in this village owed no debt They served recognizable needs, and were paid in food and shelter They could marry Produce children ould not inherit the debts of their parents The portions of their day allotted their tasks did not progress, did not devour ever more time from their lives In all, the loss of freedoless to these kin of hers

A child named Feather Witch As if a witch from the distant past, aardly dressed, stiff and s appear to be, had stepped out from the histories Womb-chosen caster of the tiles, who practised her arts of divination for the service of her community, rather than for the coins in a leather pouch Perhaps the na these slaves Perhaps there were no old tiles to be found, no soleed, crack-laced path, the dread mosaic of destiny set out before one and all – with a hood-eyed wohtful ritual

She heard the crunch of stones from near the riverdown at the waterline He thrust his hands into the cold, fresh water as if seeking absolution, or ice-nu escape

Curious, Seren Pedac walked over

The glance he cast at her was guarded, diffident ‘Acquitor,’ he said, ‘these are fraught hours a the Edur Words are best left unspoken’

‘We are not Edur, however,’ she replied, ‘are we?’

He withdrew his hands, and she saw that they were red and swollen ‘Eround in these lands, Acquitor’

‘None the less, we are Letherii’

His grin ry ‘Acquitor, I a on that Slavery And freedoe?’

He settled back on his haunches, water dripping fro past The rain had fallen off andout frooverns every Letherii slave a the Edur, yet it is a debt that can never be repaid’

She stared down at him, shocked ‘But that is s we are all e it?’

Seren was silent for a ti water Not at all unhandsome, yet, now that she knew, she could see his indebtedness, the sure burden upon hiht sire, there would be no absolving the stigma It was brutal It was… Letherii ‘There is a slave,’ she said, ‘who is named Feather Witch’

He seemed to wince ‘Yes, our resident caster of the tiles’