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Rosethorn gave hi beside her "This should help those aching ht fell, Briar drew the line of ponies and athered her pack with her extra gate stones and created the enclosure where all of theht of sleeping as part of a pile with the others
Briar waited until Rosethorn went off into the dark to explain about her lungs, and how she needed all the warive now that they were in colder lands "We did it so alone didn’t keep us war otherwise," he explained
When she returned, and Parahan and Evvy had gone in separate directions for the last errands of the night, Briar had to cajole Rosethorn into sleeping at the center of the huddle that would include Evvy, the cats, Parahan, and hi an outside position with Parahan
The bigas he returned, said flatly, "We need every one of us at their best in the , woht, if we’re alive and free"
Rosethorn stared at Parahan for a long, worrisoround Parahan proceeded to bank the fire Briar wondered if he ought to say he would pray for theof the sort In the end, he simply put his own bedroll next to Rosethorn’s and crawled into it Evvy chose Rosethorn’s free side and Parahan Briar’s Rosethorn went to sprinkle her herb circle around the ca she’d done several tiical curtain that hid theht come by Once the circle was finished, she le into her bedroll Only then did the cats fit themselves into every co off when Parahan said, "Why don’t we take the border at night? If we ht just sneak past They’ll expect us during the day We could avoid a fight completely"
Briar yawned "We can’t do it"
When Parahan spoke, he sounded peeved "I may only be a simple soldier, not an educated nanshur, but I’m sure if you do it in small words, you can explain it to me in a way I can understand Why should we not try the strategically far ht?"
Briar growled He was tired and he orried about the border just like everyone else "We’re plant ist"
"Stop it, you two," Evvy coht Surely even si Evvy Parahanto bully the when Rosethorn was not at her best He also didn’t need to know Rosethorn’s secrets
It was Rosethorn, of course, who ruined it by telling the truth "He’s only half lying, Parahan," she said "I don’t see as well in the dark as I used to I was … ill, six years ago It’s why I speak as I do, and why I have trouble catching ht vision is limited"
"She died," Evvy said with relish "Briar and his sisters went to the Deadlands and brought her back, only she left part of her speech and her breath and her sight there as a promise to the White Jade God that she would return"
Parahan’s voice was shaky when he spoke again "That’s a story, isn’t it?"
"It is not," Rosethorn said "I nearly died of the Blue Pox We leave in the ht’s conversation They settled between the banked fire and the picketed mules and ponies, ith their blankets, cats, and one another Their night was so undisturbed that Parahan’s only co was that Monster snored
The road was eh they found no other signs of trouble Eagles and buzzards soared overhead searching for aon a loo hillside
As the hours passed, the lands ahead on their side of the river began to flatten By ht and the kind of isolated barns used for sheltering herds and storing hay
It was almost noon when they crested a rise in the road Before them a small river had cut a little flat-bottomed valley to the north as it hurried to join the Snow Serpent on their left A quarter of ahills that shaped the western side of the valley Near it were grain fields and herds of the large, shaggy cattle known as yaks
Where the road and the suard- and tollhouse It was built like the local dwellings, two stories tall and curving inward froround to flat roof The shutters were open on the narros since it was a sunny day Ivory plaster covered every chink in the walls It was bigger than most of the houses and there was a watchtower on the roof A couple of horses grazed in a fenced-in field at the side of the building If this place was like others in this area, Briar figured, the stables would be on the ground floor
One soldier in imperial livery stood by the barrier on the road Four uardhouse Briar squinted against the sunlight that shone into his eyes A flag on the tower snapped in the wind All he could tell was the color, a bright, iuessed