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Chapter 426: War is coming to the North:
They had spoken for another hour, and the fire had begun to die, when the knocking came.It was a hard, rapid, urgent knocking, a fist on the great oak door. The hall went silent. Soren Ashwright was on his feet in an instant, with the Thundercrest Blade half drawn. Wei Crossblade lunged for his hammer. Ash Thornwood vanished into the shadows by the stair, and a moment later there came a faint, breathless sound, as of a man dropping silently from the beams.“Who is it?” Soren Ashwright called.“A rider!” a voice cried from outside. It was Garrick’s. “A messenger! From Havenmere! He says he must see the star bearer!”“Open it.” Kaelen Ashwright said.The door swung wide. Cold air rolled in, and with it came a young man, stumbling, white-faced, covered in dust and frost. He was perhaps twenty, in a farmer’s coat, with a leather satchel clutched to his chest and a ragged cut across one cheek. His horse, tied at the gate, stood steaming and trembling, nearly dead on its feet.“Star bearer
Chapter 425: The watchers arrows:
The talk went on late. The fire burned lower, and the lamps were trimmed, and one by one the younger children began to droop. Clara fell asleep with her head on Elena’s shoulder. Jackson sat very upright, struggling to stay awake, until Sylra Ashwright lifted him in her arms and carried him, protesting, toward the stairs. Tam had curled up under the table like a puppy.The elders and the team drew closer around the hearth. Elder Alonso sat in the high-backed chair that Old Moth had vacated for him, with his staff across his knees and a blanket around his shoulders. Kaelen Ashwright sat on a stool opposite, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.“Tell me about the journey.” he said. “Anything. Everything.”Elder Alonso hesitated. Then, slowly, he told it. The ride down from the Saddle. The chapel. The river. He did not spare himself. When he reached the snake, he told that too, in a flat, level voice, and the whole circle fell silent. Old Moth’s thin hand tightened on the head o
Chapter 424: Let's get together:
They ate at the long oak table. It was a feast of sorts, a great steaming pot of Marissa’s dumplings, and roast fowl, and honey cakes, and a loaf as big as a cartwheel. The whole company sat down together, the team, the elders, the children, the guards. Wei Crossblade, who had been waiting for a proper guest to terrorize, promptly engaged Gabriel in a loud and complicated argument about the aerodynamics of war hammers. Ash Thornwood sat across from them and contradicted both. Song Lianhua and Ryn Ashenfang, at the table’s end, were already deep in a conversation with Elder Gary about crystalline formations, and Gabriel kept breaking off from the hammer debate to ask what they were saying.“I think I am in love.” he said, very quietly, to Eric.“With whom?”“With all of them.”“That is a lot of people.”“It is a lot of books.” Gabriel said, nodding at Elder Gary. “He has read everything. He has read things I did not know existed.”“He is a bit overwhelming.” Eric said, with a faint smi
Chapter 423: The powers in the east:
Ivana’s face lit. “Truly?”“Truly.”“I like him.” she said to her father, in a stage whisper.“I am glad.”“He has a very honest face.”“It is the only face he has.” Old Moth said dryly, stumping forward on her cane. “And you will excuse me. I am Old Moth. I teach the sitting, and I scold. I have been told you are my replacement.”“I would not dare.” Elder Alonso said, bowing as deeply as his back allowed.“Good. Dare when you are asked. Until then, be polite.” Old Moth said, and her bright eyes crinkled. “You look half dead.”“I am three-quarters.”“I have a soup.”“I would marry you for it.”“I am too old, and you are spoken for.” Old Moth said. “But it is a very good soup.”The crowd laughed. The tension, which had gathered around the gate like a held breath, broke. Villagers pressed forward to touch his sleeve, to greet him, to tell him that he was welcome. Elder Alonso, who had not been crowded in eleven years, stood in the middle of it with a stunned, bewildered, helplessly grat
Chapter 422: "Old man Elder Alonso"
“The same as a song Ilsabet used to sing.” Elder Alonso said. “I never told Odalys. It was a private thing. A little tune she made up when she was carrying Maren. She hummed it while she wove.”“I did not know.”“You could not have.” he said. “But you found it.”Ivana was silent. Her small hands tightened on the reins. “Is that strange?”“I think.” Elder Alonso said slowly, “it is the most natural thing in the world. The old books say the gift runs in a family like a river. It surfaces in unexpected places.”“Then I am carrying something of hers.”“A little.”“That makes me glad.” Ivana said, in a very quiet voice. “And a little frightened.”“That is how it should be.”“Is it?”“With the best things.” Elder Alonso said.The sun rose higher. They stopped at noon beside a frozen stream and ate cold porridge from a tin. The wind blew from the east, and with it came, very faintly, the smell of smoke and horses and a great many people. Gabriel lifted his head and sniffed.“We are close.” h
Chapter 421: The second hands:
Dawn came gray and cold. A thin pearly light spread along the eastern hills, and the mist on the Silverrun turned from silver to rose to a pale, clean white. The stars faded one by one. The river ran quick and clear, black over its stones, and a pair of ducks paddled in the shallows, entirely unconcerned.They broke camp quickly, without much talk. Gabriel scattered the ashes of the fire and covered them with sand. Ivana saddled the ponies, with the air of a girl who has not slept and is not going to admit it. Elder Alonso walked alone along the bank to the place where the pale thing had come out of the water. He stood there for a time, looking down at the wet stones. Then he stooped and picked something up.It was a single thread of gray silk, caught on a pebble. It lay across his palm, fine as a hair, and as he watched, it curled, and shriveled, and was gone.“Father?” Gabriel called.“I am coming.”He returned, and swung into the saddle with a grunt. Boulder, who had slept soundly
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