Page 9 (1/1)

"What was that?" Evvy cried the first time it happened

"Boom-dust," Briar muttered in Imperial His hands were clenched into fists on the arhtmares of the time pirates had attacked his and Rosethorn’s ho ed on the stones between Rosethorn and Briar "I don’t know your na to look up at Briar "Here it’s called zayao And I think they have the right to call it whatever they want, since they invented it" His gaze sharpened as he took more notice of Briar’s hands and the movement under his skin "Raiya be kind, what happened to you?"

Briar sighed and stretched out one hand so Parahan could have a closer look "I was trying out a little tattoo," he explained "Soreen e I applied it with one of my foster-sisters’ needles"

"She’s a stitch witch," Evvy said cheerfully She never tired of the story She spent sostupid around Briar that it was very co to know he could be stupid, too

"She is more than a stitch witch," Rosethorn corrected "She is a thread ic"

"It wasn’t like she has one set for sewing and one for ic Anyway," he told Parahan, after glaring at Rosethorn, "it should have worked Only the flowers I put on row," Evvy explained "They bloorowing up along his arms I think it’s splendid"

"Hmm," Parahan said "May I?"

Briar let the man turn his hands over and inspect them Parahan saw deep pockmarks in Briar’s palms, reminders of a determined thorny vine that had not wanted to release the boy when he was younger The ernails When he lifted Briar’s hand to let the silk robes slide back, he even saw that the colorful plants continued up the youngleaves or new blosso out new stems as he watched

Finally he said cautiously, "I find it very interesting that a young felloould want to put flowers on his hands Might you have been trying to cover over soer, perhaps?"

Evvy covered her giggles with both hands This friendly stranger had guessed Briar’s secret Before he had been a e, Briar was a thief and jailbird, with two arrests to his discredit -- and two jailhouse X tattoos, one on the web between the thuer of each hand He’d been arrested a third tie had seen the lanced at the throne and its occupant Neither the emperor nor his immediate court ithin earshot "I’m reformed, practically," Briar said quietly, his voice very dry "And I do so e as a nanshur than I did as a thief"

Parahan released hih "I ae of your skills, instead of a spoiled warrior prince, Iabout le

This interested Rosethorn "Your uncle sold you?"

Parahan grinned, displaying strong white teeth "You should pity him I knoould much rather have killed me so he would be sure to inherit my father’s throne someday Sadly my uncle did not dare to do so" Parahan looked out over the field The horsereat field "In Kombanpur -- where I come from, one of the Realms of the Sun -- it is very bad luck to kill a twin I have the good fortune to be one such, with my sister Soudamini Actually I aeneral, or if he simply knoould happen if Souda learned I was dead by his hand" He winked one large brown eye at Evvy "I’ else they ht have discussed was drowned out as musicians cas The explosions stopped; those who had set them off cleared away In the distance Evvy could see a line of color Slowly it grew larger and larger still, until she realized that she was looking at line after line of ar bearers After the catapults and companies of archers

Spaced between companies of foot soldiers, archers, and the teams that worked with each catapult and its ammunition wereblack silk robe and cap of a nanshur Evvy did not need the wardrobe to identify the role played by the new arrivals To her aic, the power of these people blazed fro some kind of spell-worked stones as jewelry If they ens or threaded their stones on cotton or linen, they would be just as obvious to Rosethorn and Briar

None of them spoke as the ar all the way up to the foot of the is, and horns fell silent and there was no round, the ar with goose bue force in her life