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The thought of never again running the Fives smashes down like a vast rock My eyelids flutter as I crush back tears "It doesn’tif I can never compete?"

Her expression darkens, like the breath of an oracle pushing an oht eye of the sun "You should have lied to the young lord Why should he keep your secret?"

"How could I lie when he saw my shoes? Anyway, he promised not to tell"

"There will be trouble," she mutters, and lapses into silence

The horses labor, pulling uphill, and I wonder where we are going because our house lies downhill frolides to a halt I peek outside To my astonishment we have stopped at the Ribbon Market

"Aht home!"

She leans in to whisper, "You ran your Fives! Now I’o buy my cat mask"

Before I can react she hops out of the carriage and, with Coriander and Taberta in tow, strides away into the Ribbon Market

8

I jump out Junior House Steward Polodos waits in the shade of the carriage with his aro, fro he wore his straight black hair long and tied back in a club as Patron men do in the homeland, but recently he cut it off into the short style all o clean-shaven It’s as if he is trying to i at the horses’ heads, talking together, looking agitated

"Steward Polodos! What is going on?" I deards me with a pleasant and entirely unruffled expression "There’s been some trouble with the horses’ harness, Doma We just have to stop here a