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“Look,” Sandry whispered, once Daja’s shoes and stockings were off She touched Daja’s right cheek In the same place where the three at Discipline sported red weals, Daja had a nasty-looking scratch “This has to be cleaned”

“Right here” Briar came in with a bowl of sharp-scented water and dry linen cloths “Rosethorn says water with fresh yarrow crushed in will clean that ouch she’s—we’ve—got” Pulling up a stool, he sat next to Daja, and dipped a cloth in the bowl Wringing it out, he dabbed at Daja’s scratch, gently cleaning it “I’lad you left that staff of yours upstairs,” he told the sleeping girl “I’d hate to have you bonkthis out”

Pain flared on Tris’s cheek Her oelt stung alotten it

“Wish I’d been there,” Briar irls “All those ships …”

“Shalandiru,” whispered Daja, eyes closed “Oared warships, lateen rigs”

“I don’t know if she’s babbling or drea inside his sleeveless shirt, he brought out a little stone jar and opened it “You’ll love this,” he told Daja “My first batch of comfrey salve It’ll fix you up in no time, without even a wicked scar”

Sandry, whose uncle was a pirate-chaser, leaned over her friend “What kind of shalandiru?” she asked, watching Briar gently sht The weal on her own cheek was hurting less “How many, Daja?”

“Front rank, ten drole-bank galleys” She sighed

“Front rank? There were more?” Sandry asked

“It’s a fleet, saati,” whispered Daja “I didn’t get a good look at the second rank, or third—but they have them I’m so tired”

“What’s a dromon?” Tris wanted to know

“Two banks of oars,” Briar and Sandry replied at the same time

“Most galleys just have the one,” Sandry continued “Droer”

“And they have the thunder-weapon” Daja opened her eyes and tried to sit up None of them helped her At last she surrendered “Frostpine?”

“Rosethorn’s room” Briar jerked his head in the proper direction “He’s as melted as you”

“What thunder-weapon?” Sandry asked Daja, frowning “Was it that boo we heard?”

“It sank one of the duke’s galleys” A tear rolled slowly down one of Daja’s cheeks, leaving a clean track in the grime “It tore the sailors to pieces and blew a hole in the keel We saved a few, but our boat was nearly full to start Oti Bookkeeper give them credit, and send them to a kinder berth”

“A catapult stone would hole a ship,” Briar pointed out “You don’t need thunder for that”

“A—a stone”—Daja yawned, her eyes sliding shut—”doesn’t rip people and planks to shreds and fire the hold”

Tris started at this description of it Leaning forward, she wrapped a hand around Daja’s wrist “Wait This ser down the other girl’s arm It came away sooty “This black stuff The smell—it’s not just wood smoke Is that your thunder-weapon? It makes this stink?”

Daja nodded and slept again

“Briar! Tris! I need you!” Rosethorn called, her voice sharp “Now, not tomorrow!”

Briar placed his salve on the desk, along with the water and cloths, and headed for the door Turning back, he saw that Sandry was stroking Daja’s hand, looking thoughtful Tris was sniffing her finger She had gone a strange shade of pale under skin reddened from yesterday’s time in the sun “That isn’t Lark ants us,” the boy prodded “Let’s go, before she gets testy”

8

Ten minutes later, Briar and Tris walked onto the spiral road, both carrying ee-slates: Briar’s for Gorse, Tris’s for Moonstream Rosethorn had ordered special foods for Daja and Frostpine, while both she and Lark felt that the Dedicate Superior ought to knohat now lay before Summersea Harbor

“Dedicate Moonstrea dedicate in Fire red

“South gate,” she replied and hurried on

People and carts streamed by them on the road as they walked These were local farh walls In a way, Briar was glad to see thehwas siun life as a stray in Summersea and had bad memories of crowds Tris took each brush, each bu redder and redder Briar noticed that the wind had picked up, blowing every which way He said nothing—the breeze helped ease the day’s growing heat—but he kept an eye on his houseot too out-of-temper, he supposed he would have to make her relax, somehow

Near south gate, the crowds evaporated None of the refugees seeet too close to the cove and whatever lay in it The woodshops and forges between the Water and Fire temples, however, worked at full capacity To the left, in the yard around the school for physical training run by the Fire Temple, red-robed dedicates and white-robed novices drilled with swords, wide-bladed spears, and shields Many of the boys that Briar knew fro their oeapons practice There were a few girls airls and women wore red or white, and drilled as warriors

Other red-garbed dedicates, in ed around the south gate, weapons close at hand The gate was closed and barred with huge tih the wall, both Tris and Briar saw the blaze of ic Power shone from the many round stones embedded in the mortar that lined the tunnel walls

“Here—you lot, scat!” yelled an armored dedicate She wore the sleeves of her cri arms as muscled as those of any blacksmith For all Briar knew, she was a smith, like so many Fire dedicates “This is no place for you!”

Triuiven him before he and Tris left Discipline Unlike the iron one, this was lass, with Lark’s and Rosethorn’s marks pressed into the sides Lark had also tied a red silk cord so that it foret therounds, she had told them

The dedicate took it, looked it over, then spat on the ground “The dog stays here,” she ordered “The baskets, too Keep out from under people’s feet on the wall If you’re ordered off, I’d better not hear that you argued Who’re you looking for?”

“Moonstrea “The slate in this basket is for her”

“Then you only need to carry the slate, not the whole basket” The dedicate returned the token but kept her hand out The two passed over their baskets and ordered Little Bear to sit To their surprise, he obeyed, thuate,” the woive the dog’s rump a scratch

Reaching the steps, Tris growled, lifted her skirts, and began to climb

“Nohat’s theher

“I’ve been cli a lot of stairs lately,” she snapped breathlessly “I’ to hate it”

“Maybe they’d go easier if you didn’t clis of yours don’t help, either”

“Those what?” she gasped

“Flap-rags Skirts, and underskirts Swap them for breeches, like Daja”

Tris halted Turning, she glared at him “Breeches? Like some—some street rat, or busker, or—or a Trader? I come from a decent family, I’ll have you know, and decent felare, she whirled and finished the climb to the top

“Once a merchant, always a merchan

t,” Briar irl as s to the very clothes that made her hot and cranky

Moonstrea to a lean, redheaded dedicate in crilanced at the people they had come to find Before them, visible at last, a pirate fleet lay in the cove Like the fleet that Daja had described, galleys with two banks of oars alternated with single-bank galleys in the row closest to the land Other ships lay behind them Briar tried to do a rapid count, without success The ships’ ies doubled and tripled and wavered before hiic

“No children allowed,” a rough, high voice inforripped Briar and Tris by the shoulder They looked up It was a long way to look: the redheadedto Moonstream and Niko was over six feet tall His short-cropped red hair stood at all angles, as if he often ran ih it His skin eathered, his nose a thin, sharp blade Tucked behind a neatly trimmed red beard, his mouth tossed out words as barks His eyes were his only attractive feature, a deep shade of blue that drew the attention of anyone near him, whether they wanted to be drawn or not His habit sported the black border of an initiate, or teold circle on his robe over the heart meant he was the First Dedicate—the head—of the Fire Temple