Page 64 (1/2)

"Be ain, only an hour’s flight away"

The thought pricklesme from Maven’s torturous manipulations Froainst ain?"

Cal walks to us from the mouth of the Notch house, his hair mussed by sleep But his eyes have never looked so awake "Why again?"

"I saw a bulletin in Corviu with Governor Lerolan," Ada says, confused by Cal’s sudden focus "To share his condolences in person"

"For Belicos and his sons" I met Belicos only once, minutes before his death, but he was kind He did not deserve the ending I helped give hiainst the rising sun He sees so even Ada’s lists and facts cannot understand "Maven wouldn’t waste ti, even to keep up appearances The Lerolans are nothing to him, and he’s already killed the newbloods of Delphie--he wouldn’t go back without a good reason"

"And that is?" I ask

His ht answer to fall out Nothing happens, and finally he shakes his head "I’m not sure"

Because this is not aCal doesn’t understand He has a talent for war, not intrigue That is Maven and his unned on their playing field The best we can do is challenge theht, not ht And fast

"Pitarus," I say aloud, sounding final "And tell Nanny she’s co to help since she came here, and Cal thinks she’s ready to do it Harrick, on the other hand, has not joined us on another recruitment Not since Templyn I don’t blaion starts As we pass fro into the Prince State, the divide is shockingly clear froh altitude The airjet soars over a series of rift valleys, each one bordered by along gashes like the scrape of fingernails across earth But these are too big, even for Silvers This land waso Autu shades of fire We’re much farther south than the Notch, but I see pockets of snow on the peaks, hiding fro sun Like Greatwoods, the Rift is another wilderness, though its wealth lies in steel and iron, not luion, and an industrial nerve center It sits on a river fork, connecting the steel refineries to the war front, as well as the southern coal towns to the rest of the kingdooverned by the eavers of House Laris, it is the ancestral home of House Samos As the owners of the iron mines and steel factories, they truly control Pitarus and the Rift If we’re lucky, Evangeline et to repay her for all her evils

The nearest rift valley to Pitarus is ood cover to land This is the bumpiest of all the ruined runways, and I wonder if we’ve overstepped But Cal keeps the Blackrun in hand, getting us down safely, if shaken

Nanny claps her hands, delighted by the flight, her wrinkled face lit by a wide s at us