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"You’ll worry even if I stayed here a hundred days," I said "I’ didn’t strike me At least, not yet "There are plenty of travelers on the road, and I do kno to defend rinned at the ht he could overpower th and size Ha! "Plus I have Quartz If we run into trouble, we’ll duck into the plains No one would follow us in there" The e of the Avibian Plains

She softened a bit Ti Mara I can take a featches along to show her" Eventually

Delight replaced concern She rushed off to gather the wedding sa s to the shed No sense bringing everything when I didn’t knohere I would end up

Quartz trotted over as soon as I arrived, as if she’d been waiting for s tipped her off, or if she sensed I planned to leave

I had worried about one Sandseed horses were picky The Stable Master at the Keep called them spoiled rotten The breed didn’t allow many people to ride them But Quartz treated oodbyes, and finding rooes of food and fabric sa north to keep the illusion of h the Avibian Plains pulsed in my heart Quartz’s desire alloped I decided to wait a few days before turning toward Fulgor

The nastiness with Ulrick and Tricky had happened in Hubal But the small town lacked a jail and the six or, the capital of the Moon Clan’s lands I would sendthee in plans A coward’s action, but I didn’t want to endure another lecture on safety from my mother

A small hum of excitement buzzed in my chest as the miles passed under Quartz’s hooves The outcoo either way, but there was, at least, one positive result so far I had stoppedin the first place Especially not to my mother

After two days on the main north-south road to the Citadel, I turned northeast into the plains The terrain seerasses Farther in, the sandy soil would transforrass and cluround Dry fireould be hard to find and rocks would do I wouldn’t be in the plains for long I touched Quartz’s shoulder withlong blazing tails and the air thickened, carrying round

The Sandseeds called this pheno, Quartz could cover twice the distance that she could at her norical ability, and only when they were inside the Avibian Plains

Before, Quartz’s gust-of-wind gait felt like flying--fast and light Since ible tointo apushed downstrea to coor would have taken ten days By cutting through the plains and gusting, we arrived at Fulgor’s h the busy don quarter, I searched for a reputable inn The sun teetered on the edge of the western horizon, casting our thin shadows far ahead Vendors emptied their stands, and shops closed their doors Everyone would return to their hooods to the evening crowd

I scanned the streets without focusing on any one person or place My thoughts dwelled on past events This town held no cheerfulht? Except as "it"?

Perhaps I was supposed to leave this toithout being duped, tricked or incarcerated At least this trip, everyone shed with their colances The last tih the half-e how the citizens hadn’t been able to pinpoint the reason for their unease in those days, but they had instinctively known so What I’d discovered was their Councilor had been kidnapped by her sister, Akako, and, with the aid of Devlen’s blood ic, Tama Moon’s soul itched with Akako’s While Akako pretended to be the Councilor, she locked the real Tama in a cell in Hubal about twenty miles away

Devlen then switched his soul with Ulrick and pretended to behis mentor At least that didn’t work as he planned I sic, I stopped hi a er addicted to bloodthe incident in Hubal, he had refused to hurt uards to begin a five-year prison sentence

I rubbed a fingertip along ivenhied? From Daviian Warper to repentant citizen? Yelena had read his soul and supported him She had spoken on his behalf and, coician Zitora Cowan’s life, the Council had cut his prison time in half