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"Yes, I think you could say yes! What else will you do? You’re not still thinking of killing yourself at Fog Cup"

"Not killing ht maybe Just a slow death by mildew, if you don’t starve first Ilona Blackstripe lost the rest of her toes, did you know that? And have you ever seen sicklier babies?"

"Well, I won’t be having babies, so it’s not ering the little silver chain that was her gift from her own boy "I’ll never understand you, Neve It’s like you’re another species You had those two strapping boys out there and you never even kept ith them, and you don’t want babies either? What do you want, s and a hatful of jewels, why not? Her own ship, with sails of spider silk Her own country, with a castle in it and horses to ride and beehives in the trees, dripping honey What use anting when a full belly was as remote as a hatful of jewels? And she did want babies, truth be told, but in the sas: in a fairy-tale version of life, where they wouldn’t look like those poor Blackstripe sicklings, and she wouldn’t be digging tiny graves every couple of years and pretending life went on

And what about love? Did she want that, too? It see I can have," she replied, before the sparkle of senseless wanting could grow too bright

Keillegh was blunt "So take Spear and count your blessings He may be a misery of a man, but his house is warm, and I happen to know he eats h Neve would sell herself for that! The ruetting breakfast in all her nerves that , not to mention that her hen had dried up, poor Potpie, destined soon to fulfill the promise of her name

The reverend, Neve knew, had a dozen hens and a strutting rooster to rule theht Neve Cheese "That’s all lovely," she said, settling her grumblesome tummy with a firraves How round before soet a new hobby?"

"So suppose you put hih!"

"What? I don’thi Cup"

Maybe so Easier didn’t h Some kinds of misery make you hate the world, but some kinds --Neve had no question that Spear was the latter

But what if … what if … there was so up ahead for her--one without anyits way backward in time to meet her, and take her hand, and show her how to find it? It was funny In life as perpetrated against Neve, there were only bad surprises, never good, but as the day wore on, she had a fancy that the queer s round to check on her Sure she was iroom drafts Those were errant shivers, chaotic, like little boys darting up to slip an icicle down your back

This circling gust, this curious breeze … it wasn’t even cold

The Drea he’d slept He opened his eyes from dream to darkness, and to stillness--stillness like death, but he was not dead The air around him was, and the earth that wrapped around that was, too, and so He should have felt the pulse of life in it, in soil and roots, and seen thewater and burrowing beast It should have been a sylorious with life But all was silent

Except for the call