Page 15 (1/2)

Like Azaze said, Jayat aiting in the courtyard with the horses I put Rosethorn’s kit on her horsea little pack I carried, in case I found new rocks, in front of me on my saddle and perched Luvo on it Luvo wanted to see everything By the time I was ready, Rosethorn and Myrrhtide were set to ride The sun was all the way up as we followed Jayat east, on the road through Moharrin

By day we could see antic, gently sloping bowl ringed by mountains, or at least very tall hills Mount Grace was the queen of the over the others Lake Hobin here the water ran at the lowest point of the bowl There were patches of farmland and orchards around the rih, earthquakes and all

"Have you been in the lake yet?" Rosethorn reached over with a foot and nudged Myrrhtide

He glared at her "I have not It looks very, very cold"

"It’s snowmelt, a lot of it" Jayat was"You’ll be wide awake if you have a swiht you Water temple types didn’t care about the te me to behave with Myrrhtide She was always after hi

"Will you please be quiet?" Myrrhtide rubbed his forehead "I can’t hear the adorable little birdies greet the thundering sun"

The road followed the shore We had a wonderful view of Lake Hobin and all the birds that fished and swaht silveryI half-expected the lake to show us those same weird ripples Rosethorn and I had seen in our ater and tea Only the animals ruffled its surface Not even the wind stirred it The air was still

At last we turned down a new road, away from the lake It took us past a few of those sh a rickety gate "He was the first of us to find a dead patch on his land"

A little girl stood on the doorstep of theher thuht brown skin, brown hair, and long brown eyes Her nose and chin were sharp She was a pretty thing She needed better clothes, though Her dress was the color of butter amber, but it was patched The sleeves had been ripped out of the ar out into the dooryard for a better look

The beautiful girl--Nory--who had coht before ran out of the house "Meryerabbed the girl by the back of her dress, then glared at us "Don’t even think of waking Oswin He didn’t get to sleep until long aftera rebuilt table for breakfast"

I felt watched and looked up Faces in the upstairs s of the house, boy and girl, watched us They were all colors: black, white, brown, and mixes like Meryem These would be the pirate kids Oswin had taken in, the ones left over after the adults had been killed They looked like street kids I had known in the old days, before Briar had found me They had that wary expression, the same as feral cats