Page 48 (1/2)

"That’s not difficult" Dustfinger let his eyes wander to Fenoglio So they called him Inkweaver here How contented he looked, the er’s death A knife in the back, plunged so deep that it found his heart, that hat Fenoglio had planned for hier instinctively reached to touch the spot between his shoulder blades Yes, he had read theht in the other world when he had been lying awake, trying in vain to conjure up Roxane’s face in his ie’s voice saying those words " One of Capricorn’sfor you in the book

They want to kill Gwin, and you try to help him, so they kill you instead " He had taken the book out of his backpack with trees for his death

And then he’d read what it said there in black and white, over and over again After that he had decided to leave Gwin behind if he should ever coer stroked Jink’s bushy tail No, perhaps it had not been a good idea to catch another iven you the nod all of a sudden" The Black Prince put an arm around his shoulders, while his bear sniffed curiously at Dustfinger’s backpack "The boy must have told you hoe picked hiitation, said he was here to warn you And when he said of whom, many of er ran a finger over his scarred cheek "Yes, he’s probably back, too" "With his master?"

"No, Capricorn’s dead I saw him die myself"

The Black Prince put his hand in his bear’s ood news

And there wouldn’t be much for him to come back to, just a few charred walls Only old Nettle sooes there She swears you can’t find better yarrohere than in the fire-raisers’ old fortress"

Dustfinger saw Fenoglio glancing his way Meggie was looking in the same direction, too He quickly turned his back on them

"We have a camp near there now – you’ll re his voice "Since Cosiood shelter again Only the strolling players know about the on the road with their children – they can all stay and rest there for a while I tell you what, the Secret Caood place for you to tell me your story! The one you say is so hard to believe I’ve often been there for the bear’s sake He gets grouchy when he spends too long between city walls Roxane can tell you how to find the place; she knows her way around the forest almost as well as you by now"

"I know the old brownie caves," said Dustfinger He had hidden from Capricorn’s men there many times, but he wasn’t sure that he really wanted to tell the Prince about the last ten years

"Six torches!" Farid was beside hiled with six torches and I didn’t drop one I think she liked it"

Dustfinger suppressed a s players had drawn the Prince aside Dustfinger wasn’t sure whether he knew them, but he turned his back, to be on the safe side

"Did you know everyone’s talking about you?" Farid’s eyes were round as coins with excite you’re back And I think soer looked uneasily around His daughter was still standing behind the little prince’s chair He hadn’t told Farid about her It was bad enough having the boy jealous of Roxane

"They say there was never a fire-eater to match you! The other one there, Sootbird they call him"

– Farid put a piece of bread in Jink’s mouth – "he asked about you, but I didn’t know if you wanted to meet hi – but he says he knows you Is that right?"

"Yes, but all the sahtrope-walker had co to hier’s way Tiain, but not here, and not today