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"I would have just said that I don’t go around wasting ic" I stowed my obsidian pieces in the front of my shirt One of them had cut me I hid the cut before she noticed it As I followed Rosethorn onto the road, I explained, "It’s these rocks So many of them are fire-born"
She looked around at ed "Fro the kind of rock that my stone teachers say is made in fire I’ve never seen so much in one place, not so close to the surface There’s soranite here, and feldspars, and obsidian--obsidian is really hard to find And they’re all volcano rocks Starns is one big basket of treats for the likes of me"
We reached the road Dedicate Fusspot looked as if he was about to colared at him
"Play with your obsidian treats in the saddle, please," said Rosethorn "No ainst uilty as I looked at her Coxe, Briar and I hadCircle, but she still got tired easily Rosethorn had ordered Briar and ht the emperor’s ar her lean on my horse, hidden from the people who rode with us, I wished Briar and I had disobeyed her I e’d told the Winding Circle council that she was in no shape to go saving villages, not so soon
"Did you drink your medicine tea?" I asked her "The kind that s the ground Rosethorn pushed away froet there with no more--"
The other horses snorted and sta
"Evu, too, from under my feet--liquid stone on the move, rich and heavy Noas the tixe I wrapped the reins tight around rabbed Rosethorn’s arod of luck This tih the ground underneath us It boomed under the horses’ hooves and rattled down the road, away from the island’s heart On the far side of the river, stones dropped froe splashes Behindtree as it fell I clutched Rosethorn with both ar down the riverbank She clung to ht and her eyes all business
Then we had silence We listened for a ti for a second shock The horses quieted down Finally, the birds began their usual chatter
"You ave o People tell rip like stone I think I rabbed her The cloth of her habit was as wrinkled as if I’d ironed it that way
Rosethorn rubbed her white fingers to get the blood flowing into them, then looked at Oswin "If I had wanted to bounce like this, I would have stayed aboard ship Is your island normally so lively?"
"We’ve had a lot of treo, Dedicate Initiate You--we becorab her horse’s reins "I can’t wait to becoht, then rode on--and up Moharrin was high on the side of Mount Grace As it got later, and the river and the road entered forestedout Rosethorn’s coat and rode over to her
"Evu on her" Luvo had seen me do this dance with Rosethorn before
"You just have to wait until she isn’t paying attention," I whispered to him "Hush"
"Stop" Rosethorn climbed off her horse and walked away froether and her forehead crinkled, it was clear she was in a thinking rumbled He didn’t like to ride, I could tell, but he wouldn’t say so Oswin and Jayat dismounted Jayat went to refill their water bottles
"Perfect, Luvo If I et Rosethorn’s coat on her before she even notices" I slid to the ground and caught up to her She was busy inspecting two dead trees I danced around her back and sides, working her arnored et between her and the dead trees
"I can getpatch of dead plants behind the trees In the diht, that spot looked as if it was filled with plant ghosts, the dead leaves pale against the living shadows of the forest beyond At the heart of the ghost space, dead birds lay beside a slab of basalt that jutted frohosts? I wondered In Yanjing and Gyongxe, everything huhosts That’s what I was raised to believe Were there bird ghosts here? And wouldn’t Rosethorn believe that plants have ghosts? Plants are her people, just as stones are Luvo’s people, and mine
"Briar told " I answered her in a whisper I didn’t want the attention of bird or plant ghosts "What killed them, Rosethorn?"