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"Find out more about who ordered the at ack I know" Darri looked over her shoulder at the closed door

"It wasn’t dif icult to figure out who you were looking for at that disgusting party And I had no "

Cal ieherself in the narrow space between Darri and the door "She’s not your maid

She hasn’t been anyone’s maid for hundreds of years"

Darri turned around and looked down at her "If you’re not going to co you can do here, Darri"

Their eyes were only inches apart Darri’s were dark and hard, and Cal ie’s heart twisted She had always hated having Darri angry at her

"I said," Darri snapped, "step out ofsnapped Cal ie lifted her chin She was shorter, she was younger, and Darri stil thought of her as a child; but ever since the moment Darri had stepped into the banquet hal , without any idea of what she alking into, Cal ie had felt like she was the older sister

"Don’t tel h, or what I know I’ in over your head"

Darri went red with fury "Overcourtier who turns her back on her own family? Because I’m just a Rael ian barbarian?"

Welyes Cal ie clenched her fists at her sides "Is that what you think I’ve been doing? I’ve been through terror and hopelessness and come out on the other side And yes, I’m a part of this court now It was the only way I could survive"

The anger vanished from Darri’s face She said, so softly Cal ie could barely hear it, "And you blaer drained away just as fast "Not anyave Cal ie a stricken look "You believed me, when I said I would save you

And instead I let them take you away"

And suddenly Cal ie was back on that horse, her hands tre over her shoulder at her older sister Watching the stretches of grass grow longer and longer between the her

She turned away, but Darri grabbed her chin and pul ed her head back, forcing her to look into her eyes

"I should have stopped them It doesn’t mat er that I couldn’t, I stil should have, and if you hate me, Cal ie, I understand I failed you It’sthat’s happened to you"

"No," Cal ie whispered She jerked her head free "Darri, don’t you see? The reason you were the one who failed was because you were the only one who even tried"

"I’m here to do more than try This time, Cal ie, this time it’s dif erent I’l be the one who stays, and Varis wil take you back They have no use for both of us You can go back to the plains--"

Cal ie felt dizzy with panic "Into the ar family? Do you think I want that?"

"We always kneeto let that stop us

Nothing has changed Everything wil be the way it was going to be, before--you’l be married to one of the warriors, and you’l have your own tent, your own horses You’l have your own life, and when it ends, your spirit wil ride the wind You won’t spend your life and your death buried in a castle, in darkness, surrounded by monsters"

"Instead you wil ?" Cal ie whispered

"Instead you wil ?" Cal ie whispered

"Yes," Darri said "Gladly Al I want is to save you"

If she cried, she was lost Cal ie struggled against the tears, forcing her eyes wide, clenching her throat She waited so long that Darri started to ain, and Cal ie held up both hands to stop her "Darri, wait I’m--I appreciate it" It sounded terribly inadequate, for what Darri had just of ered, but she couldn’t think of what else to say "But you have to believe ood," Darri said flatly, and shoved Cal ie to the side Cal ie had been braced for that, ready to fight, but she should have saved herself the trouble Her sister was strong

Wel , Darri had been living on horseback, while Cal ie had spent her tiuarded moment, shame tickled her--a reh her own people’s eyes A hint of what it would feel like if she went back

Not that it lanced over her shoulder at Cal ie, clearly surprised at how easy that had been, then turned back to the door

"Hold on a second," Cal ie said "You can’t just knock on the door and expect--"

Darri leaned back and kicked the door open It hadn’t been locked, and the force of her kick slalanced up at them and disappeared at once

"See?" Cal ie ainst one side of the doorframe and put a foot up on the other "So what?" she said "She’s invisible, but she’s stil here I doubt she’s interested in finding new living quarters, or giving reat plan, then--to wait her out?"

"Yes," Darri said

Cal ie looked at her sister’s face and sighed "She’l do it, you know," she addressed the emptiness in the room "She’l literal y stand there for days"

"But she has to eat, doesn’t she?" The voice that spoke back out of the emptiness was sharp, with a commoner’s accent but not a hint of servility "Whereas I do not"

"We just want to talk to you," Cal ie said

"Alas," the voice murmured, "I do not want to talk to you"

"That’s a shame," Darri said With one smooth move out her hand

Cal ie heard Meandra scream before she saw the flashes in the air and realized what Darri had done The screa of dozens of coins hit ing the floor

Cal ie had seen those coins a mil ion times before she left the plains They were minted in the Green Islands and favored by merchants because of their stable value and smal size

They were made of silver