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The two boys holding her reacted far ly At the time, I had never seen a man fall in a seizure, so I did not realize until years later what I itnessing Their bodies contorted as theirthe the ground hard enough to raise dust froer boys, Raven’s brother Darda froave a howl of dismay and scampered off toward the canteen

She stu to her knees, but in an instant she was on her feet again She tugged at her blouse, for they had dragged her sleeves down her arain, she took tift strides forward "Let hi ruffians who held h her clenched white teeth

"But…your iron collar!" Only the one boy objected He gaped at her, disa like a kicked dog, although I a had been done to hian to weave, and the protesting boy did not wait for her to complete the charm He kneell as I did that a Plains chare He thrust me at her so suddenly that I dropped into the dust at her feet, and then he raced full tilt after his friend Carky had already disappeared, scrabbling to his feet and darting around the corner of a building As Raven got to his feet, she helpedhiood day, said, "Black paint over bronze Not iron My father would never put iron on any of us He does not even bring his iron into our home"

Raven backed sloay froleaht he was beyond the range of her ic He stopped there, and cursed her with the foulest na of, only that they were vile He finished with, "Your father shamed himself when he dipped his rod in your mother Better he had done it with a donkey and produced a true mule That’s what you are, hinny A ic on us, but one day one of us will ride you bloody You’ll see"

He grew braver as he spoke, and perhaps he thoughtmouth indicated shock at his words Then the scout, who had walked up behind Raven in utter silence, seized the boy In one fluid motion, he spun Raven around and backhanded hi back fro a boy he was hitting instead of a man I heard the crack as Raven went down, and knew he had mouthed his last foul words until his jaw healed As if the sound were a char witnesses, ather in the street Darda was there, pulling his father Vev along by the hand My father was suddenly there, striding up angrily, spots of color on his cheeks

It seeirl ran to her father He put his ar his head, spoke quietly to her "We’ll be leaving now, Sil Right away"

"But…I never got to go to the market! Papa, it wasn’t my fault!"

Vev had knelt by Raven He turned and shouted angrily, "Damn it all, he’s broke my boy’s jaw! He’s broken it!"

Otherin the daylight like a pack of nocturnal animals stirred to alarm Their faces were not kindly as they looked at the scout and then at the boy writhing on the ground

My father demanded, "Nevare, why are you involved in this? Where is Parth?"

Parth, his mustache still ith beer, was behind my father, a latecomer to the scene I suspected he had stayed to down the last of his , and perhaps Vev’s, too, when the man had abruptly left the table Parth shouted, loudest of all, "Praise to the good god! There’s the boy Nevare, co all over for you You know better than to run off and hide froh town like this"

My father’s voice, pitched for coh a battlefield Yet he did not shout It was the way he said, "Praise whomever you like, Parth, but I’m not deceived Your time in my employ is finished Take your saddle off my horse"

"But sir, it were the boy! He run off, almost as soon as you went inside…"

Parth’s voice trailed away My father was no longer listening to him No one was The commander of the outpost had co down the street toward us, his aide speaking quietly and rapidly as he trotted alongside the older, taller h the gawkers until the commander reached the front of the crowd The commander, to his credit, did not look or sound the least bit excited as he halted and de on here?"