Page 63 (1/2)

"I wish you’d let me escort you, Mistress Leesha," Wonda said "You’re too i"

"That’s what ht, mistress," Wonda said

Leesha sht is finished"

"Really?" Wonda asked, her eyes widening Each cloak took ift

"If you’re determined to shadow my steps," Leesha said, "I don’t see there’s ave the pattern to my apprentices to embroider last week"

"Oh, thank you,arirlish fashion that seeer than o and drew back quickly, looking sheepish

"Isn’t she a little young to be venturing outside the forbidding?" Rojer asked quietly as they headed into town The cobbled streets of Deliverer’s Hollow looped and twisted aardly and often inconveniently, but in so doing they forned by the Painted Man hih the soil of the town proper, nor set foot upon it, nor fly above The streets glowed softly, ith ht her out hunting deet herself cored I want to keep her where I can see her"

Once, the village would have been dark and silent after sunset, but now the glowing cobbles cast light for dozens of peopleto and fro The Hollow had lost o, but its numbers had swelled as folk filtered in froend of the Painted Man These newcomers stared and whispered to one another as Rojer and Leesha, the Painted Man’s only known confidants, passed

They entered the Corelings’ Graveyard, which was once the old town square where so many deraveyard was still the center of activity for the town: the place where the villagers trained and where the Cutters asses of Tender Jona before heading out to hunt demons They stood there now, heads and broad shoulders bowed, draards in the air as Jona prayed for their safety in the naked night

Other villagers stood by, heads bowed to join in the blessing There was no sign of the Painted Man He spared no ti Son of hi in the snow until thesun rose to burn them fro toward Gared Cutter, who stood at the forefront of the Cutters, stooping low so that Tender Jona, whom Gared had bullied as a child, could take a charcoal stick and draard on his forehead

A giant, Leesha’s former betrothed towered over even the other Cutters, feho and blond, and his bronzed arms were thick with muscle A pair of warded axe handles jutted over his shoulders, and his gauntlets, tough leather bolted to ha fro demon ichor

Gared was not the oldest of the Cutters, nor the wisest by any ed from the Battle of Cutter’s Hollow a leader whom even the eldest folloithout question It was he who shouted at the ht, and left s in his wake than any save the Painted Man himself

"Whatever he’s done to you," Rojer said, "you have to ad and statueshe’s beautiful," Leesha said looking at Gared "He alas, and drew others to worship hinet I was one of them, once"

She shook her head wistfully "His da was the sa vows repeatedly with him, and on an animal level, I even understand it Both men were perfect specimens on the outside"

She turned to Rojer "It’s the inside that worries me The Cutters follow Gared without question, but does he lead thee?"

"We thought the same about the Painted Man, once," Rojer re Perhaps Gared will, too"