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Meggie didn’t answer And Resa caressed her wet face once more and went back to the tent

Burnt

It was still dark, but a few freezing fairies were already beginning to dance Mo would soon be setting out, and there was nothing that could stop hi alone between the roots of the great oak that the guards cliht You could see al a new ie saw the blue feathers in his lap and kneould soon be wearing it

"Battista?" Meggie kneeled down beside hi the roots was as soft as the cushions in Elinor’s house

He looked at her, his eyes full of sy than Doria’s hands "Ah, the Bluejay’s daughter," he said in the voice that the Strong Man called Battista’s ht at such a dark hour

I’ve sewn your father a good place to hide a sharp knife Can a poor strolling player ease your heart in soie tried to s? One of the songs the Inkweaver wrote about the Bluejay? It has to be one of those! The best you know A song full of power and"

"Hope?" Battista s, too Even if," he added, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial tone, "even if your father doesn’t like having the itso quietly thatfor this dark night?" He thoughtfully stroked the mask on his lap It was nearly finished "Yes" he whispered at last "I know!" And he began singing in a soft voice:

Piper, beware, your end is near, The Adder’s poindles He writhes, he goes in h you seek the Jay in country and town, No sword can wound him, no hound run him down, And when you think you’ll succeed in your quest, You find that the bird has flown the nest

Yes, those were the right words Meggie got Battista to sing them to her until she could remember every line Then she sat down a little way froht still kept the darkness of night away, and wrote the song down in the notebook that Mo had bound for her long ago, in that other life, after a quarrel that now seeie, you’ll lose yourself in the Inkworld

Didn’t he say so like that to her at the time? And now he himself didn’t want to leave this world, he wanted to stay here alone, without her

Words written down in black and white It was a long, long ti aloud When did she last do it? When she brought Orpheus here? Don’t think about that, Meggie Think of the other tiht, the words that helped when Mo ounded

Piper, beware, your end is near

Yes, she could still do it Meggie felt the words gathering weight on her tongue as she wove thes