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“I fear you are correct, sister,” said Miss Bay “For once Who knohat other ot up to in father’s library”

Now Miss Bunch ed her into the forest to hide from pirates

TO MIRWELLTON

It hadn’t been easy saying farewell to Damian and Lady as they stood ar beside thean set off, their saddlebags bursting with food from Lady’s kitchen

Gus and Jericho guided the network of trails to the ood-bye, leaving the Riders on their own If Fergal was sad to leave the Frosts, Karigan dreaded this leg of the journey, at the end of which she would find her old school neovernor of Mirwell Province He’d been spoiled and mean-spirited back in school, and she hated to think what a little power had done to him now And here she was, more the commoner than ever in her Rider uniform

It see of their departure, a dusting of snow covered the hardening ground

A week after leaving the Frosts, Karigan and Fergal arrived on the outskirts of Mirwellton beneath a sun that shed only cold light The streets were churned and s that lined it had a tired look, settled and sagging on their foundations, in need of a good ashing or fresh coat of paint Above the roofs rose the blocky keep, which was the seat of power for the province’s lord-governor, scarlet pennants strea from the towers

Though it was Karigan’s right as a king’sthere, she had no interest in sharing the same roof as Tial

As they rode toward the center of town, Karigan knew she was being childish to worry about Tiotten over his hed out loud at herself She’d faced doarriors and thugs, even battled groundmites, not to mention dealt with spirits of the dead, and yet Tihten her anxiety and fill her with loathing She could not let on about her feelings, however, especially to Timas She would embody the professional de he ht say or do to ridicule her Her uniforth, not a symbol of servitude

They entered the town’s main square, which was paved and busy with shoppers It was market day and the merchants hawked their wares in booths and beside carts Dead chickens hung froled over sheep skins Carcasses of pigs and coere for sale, as well as tools and blankets and leather goods So farmers attended their carts of squashes, turnips, parsnips, and potatoes Their supply was an remembered Mirwell had had a poor season

Nothing good ever co outside the province, and Karigan heard it most often uttered by her father But it wasn’t the fault of the common people, and she felt sorry for the farmers

Loo over the market was an immense fountain with a statue in its ure of so a war haan if pigeons weren’t lined up on the war hammer and hadn’t left white splotches all over the warrior’s stern face One pigeon roosted on the statue’s hel plume

Karigan and Fergal dis inn on the town square called The Fountain She secured Condor to the hitching post and stretched her back, watching shoppersa look around herself She could bring back some trinkets to amuse Mara

She was thinking about how asped behind her The next thing she knew, he was grabbing her ar her around the corner of the inn into a shadowed close