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The unnatural silence of the sparse grassland, with its thorny shrubs and low-lying pale grasses, tore at her heart Like a er speak in the many sht ht, bypassing the watchtower She was grateful to come in under the scant shade afforded by the pines Even the wind had died Heat drenched the the back of her neck cae, such as it was, breaking fro way precipitously to the hallucinatory splendor of the flowering meadow

Under the shadow of the pines she slid her bow back into its case and let the spray of color ease her eyes Eldest Uncle stood beside her without speaking or , beyond the thin whistle blown under his breath and an occasional tinkle of bells as he shifted the haft of his spear on the needle-strewn ground

"How do I walk the spheres?" she asked finally, when Eldest Uncle see at all "Where do I find the path that will lead estured toward the flower trail that led down to the river "Why do you think I bide here, out of all the places in our land? This place is like a spring, the last known to us, where water wells up from hidden roots Here the land draws life froht that spans the heavens touches our Earth at this place"

Wind stirred the flowers Cornflowers bobbed on their high stalks, and irises nodded The breeze h crooked rows of lavender that cut a swathe of purple through tangles of dog roses and dense clusters of bright peonies Marigolds edged the trail, so richly gold that sunlight ive theht you caestured toward the river, and the clearing that lay beyond it, where she had first crossed into this land

"There are ateway may open at intervals we cannot predict It is true that the clearing in which I wait and uard"

"Guard against what?"

"Go forward You have walked this trail many times in these last days"

Wind cooled the sweat on her forehead and made the flowers dance and sway in a delirious mob of colors Why hesitate?

Reflexively, she checked her gear, all that she had brought with her, everything and the only things she now possessed: cloak and boots, tunic and leggings; a leather belt, sood friend Lucian’s sword; the gold torque that lay heavily at her throat; the gold feather that Eldest Uncle had once given to her, now bound to an arrow’s haft; the griffin quiver full of strong iron-pointed arrows and her bow, Seeker of Hearts; the lapis lazuli ring through which Alain had offered her his protection The water jar did not belong to her, so she set it down on the path When she stepped forward, crossing from shadow into sun, the blast of the sun hit her so hard she staggered back, raising a hand to shield herself

Soht Hadn’t she learned more than this, even in her short time here in the country of the Aoi? Every spell, drawn out of an interaction with the hidden architecture of the universe, must be entered into correctly and departed fro and a proper ending

By what means did a sorcerer ascend into the spheres? How could any person ascend into the heavens in bodily forht, wind, and fire? Mortal substance was not meant to walk there

Would she have to study many days and weeks and even months more, before she could walk the spheres and seek out her true power? Even if she ought to, she could not wait

On Earth, days and weeks passed with each breath she exhaled here in this country In the world beyond, her child grew and her husband waited, Anne sche distances at the reater than herself What of the Lions who had befriended her? What of Alain, whoh the ruins of a battlefield? Where was he no could she leave theer would she ht, as measured in this country, Cat Mask and his warriors would coo

Yet how did one reach the heavens?

With a ladder

She shut her eyes Wind curled in her hair like the brush of Da’s fingers, stroking her to sleep Ai, God, Da had taught her exactly what she needed, if she had only believed in him