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"Scrying, if you need to have a use for everything" I showed hi flakes that fell from my hand like snow "But mostly it’s just wonderful--so delicate, and yet it’s stone"

I flicked a tiny burst of ic up the slope Flakes, sheets, and clumps of mica flashed, thousands of flat crystals in the sun Everyone who rode by would now see the stone as I did, glittering in the light

"Beautiful" Jayat liked what I had done "I never thought of it like that It was always just glassy stuff, laying around"

Luvo looked at Jayat "That is what ic is for, Jayatin To help us to think of the world in neays"

I went back tofrom my mare’s saddle horn That way I wouldn’t bounce him around as I searched for rocks Then I carefully wrapped the athered, before I stowed it in one of e Jayat stayed with Luvo and the horse I meant to find some excellent new stones forold Na to Starns with Rosethorn and me

It was ahi Briar was ht s fro and table manners We saved each other’s lives constantly, froxe The proble Circle Briar could barely stay there forinside a texe I didn’t understand I had been in Gyongxe, and I was just fine at Winding Circle Rosethorn told me that everyone recovers differently from war, and not to blame Briar

I did visit Briar practically every day after he moved in with his sisters Then they took him to Naain! I didn’t want to go on soe at Winding Circle who could teach s So off Briar went, while I slad to leave me Of course I’m finished business to Briar now

"Evuard the obsidian to your left?"

Obsidian?

I stopped feeling sorry for ic out until I could feel it slide over pure obsidian Before Rosethorn could say anything, I scrambled down the riverbank It lay just offshore, not too far under the tu water Here the river was someilder than it was closer to Sustree On the far bank the ground rose into the air as if it had been shoved straight up Its bare rock face was colored in pale sidelong stripes They were lasslike sand Through the centuries the sand had been pressed into aThat rock face was a marvel all by itself Then there was the river bottolassh it in shelves

I slid into the shallows to reach it Feeling underwater, I gathered a handful of ser ones I didn’t care if I made a mess of my clothes Obsidian chipped in curved surfaces It sentseabirds My power chi froold, then slid sharply froic and music

"Another day you may admire the pretty rocks, ed me from the water to land on my bum

If it had been Myrrhtide, I would have du that it was Rosethorn, I behaved "I’ the obsidian There’s rainbow obsidian And gold streaked, and translucent…"

I wasn’t arguing with Rosethorn, mind Just before he left, Briar had told me, "Evvy, you have to watch out for her She won’t care for herself, you know it as well as I do Don’t let people work her too hard, all right?"

And because I was being brave, pretending that it was fine by me if he went off for months and months with his sisters, I had said yes Rosethorn was xe If the emperor and all his armies hadn’t made trouble between Rosethorn and me, then this sleepy island in its sleepy ocean would never do it

I got to my feet, but Rosethorn still held on "You can walk only if you stop slowing us down, Evvy" She towed"Otherwise I’ll tie you to your horse Why are you acting like a child who got into the honey jar? I know you missed stone while you were at sea, but usually you calm down once you’re on land It’s not like you to make visible displays like those farm walls or that rock slide"

I didn’t think she had noticed that I ht if I play" I said it, rather than asking I was afraid that if I asked, she ht say no I never ask a question if I don’t think I’ll like the answer "It’s not as if the woods are full of ene to pounce"

"No, but usually you aren’t so, so prodigal"

"Prod--hunh?" Educated es like Rosethorn and Fusspot always talk as if you know every long word they use

"Prodigal In this case, it ic around, as if you shouldn’t save it for an eard for the future" She let o