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"Lia!" called a voice fro towards her He was eleven years old and very short with spiky dark hair

She stopped, frustrated "Does the Aldermaston want to see me?" she asked

He shook his head when he approached, out of breath "I thought you should know," he said, then stopped, panting "I overhead Get to soainst dancing with Sowe around the maypole He said…he threatened them, Lia If anyone asked her but him, he would thrash them" His little face bunched up in distaste "He really is a coxcomb Tell her, Lia It is not fair that he should be the only one to dance with her"

She scowled and nodded "Thank you, Astrid I will tell her"

"What happened to your face, Lia?"

"Nothing It is healing Thank you, Astrid" As he ran to his next errand, she continued on, worrying about how ravaged her face looked before seeing Colvin The skin was peeling and co was gone

She entered the orchard frouarding the trail doard But before she reached it, she encountered Colvin part-way The orchard trees were thick around her, forcing her to duck and weave beneath the claw-like branches

She tried to keep her voice light, to not betray her excite you any food this tiry, it is your own fault But there her branches"

He held up his hands and she saas holding two "Muirwood apples suit me now I have not tasted one like these since I left The ones that grow elsewhere are either red or yellow, sometimes juicy, sometimes mush - but never this blend of colors, and never this particular taste" He tossed one to her She caught it, noting the blemishes and blotches around the stem

She s the way he watched her There was a look in his eyes that she could not er or impatience He seemed very calm and self-assured

She bit into the apple and enjoyed the burst of flavor "It is a pity you did not arrive in the spring," she said, "when the whole orchard bloorounds, when all the oaks are budding and the apple blosso I think I told you before," she said seriously, regarding the bitten piece of fruit "That we arden where the first Parents arden where we found Maderos, reine if that was it"

Colvin shook his head "That has not changed You stillabout"

With a sweet smile, she asked, "How could I know all that, if no one will teach me to read?" She took another bite "We know so very little about those ancient days, Colvin What would have happened if our first Parents had not bitten the apple together, at the same moment?"

"You presume it was an apple The tos theyless than forbidding to the i into a pumpkin What would have happened if they did not eat it at the same time? What if Father ate it first?"

"There still would have been a punishment," Colvin countered "That is the point, Lia, not who ate it first or what fruit it was Maybe in another world, she took the first bite and suffered the first punishment But you did not coe and what it means Sit down at that stump I owe you an explanation for ret that it happened You probably believe I was a faithless knave – I am sure you did Please…sit while we talk"

There was a patch of grass that lookedanother taste of the apple and the fact that Colvin had climbed a tree to find it, and then waited for him to speak Because of what the Alderht she knew rass, but stood nearby, exa a branch croith leaves "The day I left you, I told the Alder He kneas to be invested as the Earl of Forshee It was not an issue of money that he refused me He said he did not want to draw attention to you ht it would be safe, but he warned me that I was mistaken Other earls would oppose Demont and rise in rebellion It came to pass just as he said He warned me not to reveal what you had done for me to anyone, not even Demont It was for your protection and the protection of Muirwood The only exception I negotiated was my sister She knows"