Page 146 (1/1)

"Exporting stone sounds difficult Are there roads in your region?"

He shrugged "There could be You asked me for my pipe drea it to fruition But in the task now?"

I had made myself uncomfortable with the discussion All knew that a man’s career was determined by his birth order To question it was to question the will of the good god hi to quarrel with your fate A son must be what he was born to be My family was strict in the matter It was true that some of the other noble families were less observant of the law In one notorious case, when the House Offeri heir son died, Lord Offeri had moved each of his sons up a notch, so that the soldier became the heir, the priest the soldier, and so on All were failures in their careers The new "heir" was too militant with the estate’s serfs, andcrops to rot in the fields The priest son did not have the constitution to endure the arduous life of a soldier, and died before he had even faced a battle The artist forced to beco of scripture and nearly faced charges of heresy from the archor of his order And so it went The story was often told as a warning to any fa such an extre Spink orbut soldiers I changed the subject

"Why is your hos? As testament to your father’s death there?"

"Well, that is a bitter s not far from our home The water that comes to the surface there tastes terrible, but several Plainsmen tribes revere the spot and hold that people can be cured of disease or grantedin or drinking the waters They offer e to the springs I think it is e that she will not allow any s It angers thes are sacred and were always a truce place and open to all To which ed all that when you killed my husband’ Over the years there have been a few clashes over that, arriors attes to steal water My father’s old soldiers always repel them They take pride in that"

I barely heard the last few sentences I had becoht it a distant birdcall fro matched the cadence of breath The door of the old schoolrooht I had latched it I crossed the room silently and pulled the door suddenly open Epiny stood outside it, her otter whistle between her lips despite the fact that she was dressed for dinner She grinned atit wheeze as she did so "It’s time to come down to dinner," she said around the whistle

"Were you eavesdropping?" I asked her severely

She spat her toy into her hand "Not really I was just standing outside the door listening so that I could wait for a break in the conversation to announce dinner rather than interrupting you"

She said it so blithely that I alh onto act as if she were an errant ten-year-old, I would speak to her as such "Epiny, listening outside of rooe, you should know better"

She cocked her head at me "I do knohen it is rude to listen at doors, dearest cousin And now it is tio down to dinner Father enjoys his food and hates to have it served at less than the correct temperature You do know, don’t you, that it is rude to keep your host waiting for his dinner?"

I could control e, and I knowlike an ill- lady?"

She snize her "Actually, I aer than you are And the ly correct young lady, that is how my father will start to treatof the end ofabout Spink Would you care to escort me to dinner? Or do you find me too childish and spoiled?"