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"I doubt Bruna put up with that," Leesha said Her mentor, the town’s last Gatherer, had been a woless formality

"The old crone was too blind to see it," Darsy said, co and scraping was not Darsy’s way, but there was as much deference in that nod as in all Vika’s curtsies and hter of Cutter stock, Darsy was tall and heavyset, though more with muscle than fat She could overth, and the heavy warded blade at her waist had cut the li to finish off an injured person on the battlefield

"Hospit’s ready, if the Cutters come back ounded," Darsy said

"Thank you, Darsy," Leesha said The hospit was always busiest at ainst warded axes, wood de foe Under the canopy of trees, their skin blended into the bark as if they wore Cloaks of Unsight, and while so much like trees the unexpectedly on their prey

Even so, fatalities a the Cutters were few When a warded weapon struck a deic jolted through the wielder, bringing with it a flash of ecstasy and a feeling of invincibility Those who tasted the er and healed faster, at least until the dawn Only Arlen still had power in the day

"What are the apprentices working on?" she asked Vika

"Eldest are e your cloak patterns," Vika said "The rest are sterilizing instru their letters"

"I’ve brought fresh books and a new gri her the satchel

Vika nodded "I’ll have it copied right away"

"You have your Gatherer’s apprentices copying wards?" Rojer asked "Isn’t that better handled by Warders’ apprentices? I could have a word…"

Leesha shook her head "Every one oflessons noon’t have the Leesha to make her rounds in the hospit, Rojer went over to the athered They were a mixed bunch, as motley as Rojer’s pants Some were Hollowers, but most had come from other towns, drawn to the tales of the Painted Man Half of them were too old to lift a tool or weapon, and so they decided to try the fiddle, only to find that their fingers lacked the necessary dexterity Several others were children whose skill ht not tell for many years

Only a handful of the remainder showed promise, pretty Kendall h to handle coh to still learn quickly, she had a real aptitude forand acrobatics as fiddling She would leur one day

Rojer did not ie his apprentices, and they knew to keep back until he did He took out his fiddle and plucked the strings, checking their tune Satisfied, he took up the bow in his crippled hand He was ers, bitten off by a flaers were li, and the bow becas he had hidden behind his Jongleur’s ht found voice in hismelody Layer by layer, he added co hiht’s work

The apprentices applauded when he was finished, and Rojer bowed before taking theh a series of simpler melodies to warm them up He winced at all the discordant notes Only Kendall was able to keep pace with hiht in concentration

"Terrible!" he snapped "Has anyone other than Kendall even lifted their fiddle since last night? Practice! All day, every day!"

Soru series of notes on his fiddle, startling theru to charonna take that seriously, it’s time to put your fiddle back in its case!"