Page 109 (1/1)

The cook chuckles as she trundles past, her assistants trailing like cowed goslings

Mis, Gira, and Shorty are standing at the entrance to the baths, ape Talon waits apart from them Even she has eyebrows raised in that princely style she affects without its see an act Abruptly I wonder if she is related to hi to you, Spider," calls Tana from the shelter, with a false cheer that warns h it looks as if you’ve not had much sleep over your Sevensday rest Best take a few cups of tea with your e I believe we shall have to run you hard today to remind you that you train here Keep the rest of your business to yourself"

32

As we adversaries eat ourmy absence, but it is obvious by the way they whisper behind their hands that the news is spreading When Kalliarkos shows up for training, flanked by Thynos and Inarsis, all talk ceases People’s ht as well have been sewn up Inarsis catches ives a subtle nod, but I knohat it e

Now I can breathe Now I can truly enjoy our victory

Once we are throughuntil I am so exhausted I can barely shift one foot in front of the next On Trees I cliive out and my vision swims Rivers defeats me as I splash a hundred times into the shallows and once scrape s I a ht hand forto make me cry But ould I cry? My mother and sisters are free,to run the Fives, and a prince kissed s at last, I shuffle to the dining shelter Not even Thynos and Inarsis can keep Kalliarkos from me As exhausted as he looks, with shadows under his eyes and a fresh bruise on his chin fros his platter over and sits beside h I a is the sa to hoist a ht, Jes?"

"I’m about to fall asleep face-first intocloser "I’ll wipe off your face if you do Prole behind a hand but everyone hears it Everyone sees Everyone disapproves I can practically sation

But Kalliarkos doesn’t care, and so neither do I

I press the side of ainst his under the table, where no one can see

In a low voice he says, "Grandhts running But for onceas a , let ht voice has such charements of the life he lives in the elaborate confines of Garon Palace s to mark the afternoon rest

"Kal!" Thynos calls A prince must rest in the safety of the palace

With his sweetest grin as a promise he departs with his uncle

Mis walks withher head "You shouldn’t have done it But he is very good-looking There isn’t a single person in this whole stable he has taken a harsh word to, like he could, being a prince who could order any of us whipped or sent to the mines if the whim took him"

"He’d never do that!"

"Oh, Jes, you sound like you’re in love Tell me about it later!"

I collapse onto ine the dead slept

A hand shakes me awake Talon stands over me In the dim room her expression is unreadable She taps her chest twice I sit up in ht out of h the shutter slats in est the others have already left for the afternoon session

"Thank you," I say, wondering why Mis did not wake ave them orders to let me sleep "Do you have another name than Talon that I can call you? Not if you don’t want to, but you can call me Jes It’s short for Jessaain, points toward the outside, and leaves s, calling adversaries to the training ground for the late afternoon session With ulp doater, and arrive on the court with drops still dribbling down my chin I do not see Mis, Gira, or Shorty anywhere, nor any of the experienced adversaries Even Talon has vanished Elsewhere on the court, out of ht, Tana calls out coh a drill Only the beginners reerie with the look of ain his dreary life, of which we are the last failing hope