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"And if I do not?" Rosethorn asked Really, this is absurd, she thought impatiently I have the Treasures; I found this hole in the wall -- these holes in the wall What more do they want of me?
"The temple protects itself," the voice replied
"Did you hear that?" Rosethorn muttered to the horse as she dismounted "The temple protects itself The rest of us can enjoy our nice little mountain vacation that we took when others need us" She went about re will not assist you," the voice told her "The ani makes me feel better," she retorted "If you don’t like it, you should have given the First Dedicate instructions, orthis burden to you And I was taught that it’s proper to look after your own rain, and settling hirass Once that was done, sheplaced it on her back to care for the horse, and looked at the three openings The glowing path went straight through the s, the one that was covered with cobwebs
Lark, Rosethorn thought, bringing her lover’s face before her o well She took a deep breath, picked up a stick that lay on the ground, and advanced on the cave Using the stick, she cleared awaypath led her down a narrow tunnel, so narrow that in some places the stone brushed her shoulders Rosethorn bit her lip and went on
As the daylight faded behind her, she saw light froh on the walls and the roof of the tunnel The farther she caave off a whitish-green illurireen hands, but consoled herself with the thought that no one would possibly care about her looks down here As a religious dedicate she kneas a weakness to be vain of her creamy skin It was doubly so because she spent nearly all of her time in the sun
"Concern for appearance is a folly of the world," the voice said, as if he’d read her mind
Rosethorn spun Behind her stood a black-skinnedhis head on the roof He wore a plain Gyongxin jacket, breeches, and boots A white mark in the shape of an eye was painted on the middle of his forehead
Rosethorn clutched the Treasures tightly She didn’t want hihtened since she had run away from the chains in her father’s farmhouse "I don’t kno you read my mind, but it’s rude," she snapped "And my weaknesses as a dedicate are between me and my own First Dedicates"
"In the Temple of the Sealed Eye all is known," the o forward Keep to the left of the tunnel"
She didn’t like to turn her back to hi ahead She certainly couldn’t go back, through hiripped her reat city under attack; a young black irls who reseyi arirls and the youngman was h forests and up into mountain passes, starved and half naked, until he collapsed The last thing Rosethorn saas a Gyongxin woman with the white eye painted on her forehead: She was bending over the fallen young etting the big man most likely couldn’t see what she did "You were an escaped slave?" She looked back at hihed "Your Treasures could leave me my secrets" He reached out "Careful!"
She bu there hissed and scraped, darting at her She stu still Rosethorn turned to face it and carefully backed up until she struck the opposite wall On the flat top of the rock was a serpent-like thing with a human skull Its body seemed to be all vertebrae It had no skin, no flesh, no muscle; its material was shaped like bone, but it looked to be a combination of s," thethey old"
"They made themselves?" Rosethorn asked
"At first," the man replied
She didn’t know if she was unsure or astonished The cave snake rose up on its coils and hissed again, leaning out until its face was i’s breath was cold, wet, and scented like the depths far underground To her horror, Rosethorn saw movement beyond the beast’s ss rose up inside her coils, hissing softly
"They are very irritable when brooding a nest," Rosethorn’s companion said belatedly
Rosethorn took a deep breath "I am sorry that I disturbed you and your nest," she told the cave snakeher eyes on the eye hollows in her skull The thing htened "It was not ument between us"
"It would be a shame on both sides," a newcoht around her nest