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Dale shrugged She was just the er She had no answers “Looks like we’re stuck”

The two sat there in gloo on Alton’s face

Dale fidgeted “What is this Merdigen anyway? He called hien, whatever that means But what is his function? What is he there for?”

“Froather,” Alton replied, “he’s there to help the wallkeepers keep an eye on the wall He can couardians, and in turn relay information to the wallkeepers When there allkeepers, that is”

“Sort of like a er himself”

“I suppose”

Dale sed her tea, forgetting about the whiskey She gritted her teeth as it flamed in her throat and made her eyes water Her expression elicited another smile from Alton

When she could speak again, she said, “All right, so Merdigen is aAn illusion?”

“As far as any of us can tell,” Alton said “No one has really had a chance to question him, and certainly I’ve not been able to”

“Well, hly question hien himself, ill learn more about the wall”

Alton straightened in his chair, hope plain on his face “Surely he must knowthat time”

“There’s only one way to find out,” Dale said She was tired, but game Before she could rise, however, Leese appeared in the tent opening

“If you don’t e, I’d like to o to your tent?”

With an apologetic look to Alton, Dale abandoned her cup of “tea,” and followed the mender out

THE GRANDGENT

Karigan held the knife blade before her as she took aiet, just as Arms Master Drent had instructed her She knew she should have returned the throwing knives to him as she had after every session; she knew Drent believed her a danger to herself and others when handling the, and the only way to succeed was through practice, and if she could do so unseen without every other trainee watching her and avoid the humiliation, all the better

Besides, who could she hurt in the al was safely inside the waystation cabin working on the assignments Ty sent with him, and she put the cabin between herself and the paddock where Condor and Sunny munched on hay Everyone should be safe

Her target was an old grain sack she found in the cabin that she stuffed with leaves, pine needles, andpapery bark Most of its leaves had yellowed and fallen, its branches crooked bones against the evergreen backdrop

Squinting at the target in deep concentration, she drew her hand back and threw The knife whistled tip over butt ide and high of the target It clattered so the ire of resident squirrels who bounded to the end of a liround at the base of the tree