A Sparrow Among Stars by Sara Puissegur

Author:Sara Puissegur [Puissegur, Sara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-08-19T00:00:00+00:00

That evening, they reconvened for supper in the dining hall. Long wooden tables covered in overflowing platters lined the room, and dwarfs sat elbow to elbow on benches, their thick, stumpy arms reaching for hunks of cured meat. Though the dwarfs were boisterous during their communal mealtime, the guardians tried to eat quietly. Cole feasted in silence, sipping ale from an overflowing mug while keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings. His eyes kept drifting back to Xandra as she gave a dramatic retelling of Rigel’s duel and his latest wounds.

Though they attempted to avoid interaction with the drunken dwarfs, Bortir wandered over to their table, bragging loudly about his latest triumph over Rigel. When he had taken his fill of the plentiful food, Cole chugged the remainder of his ale. Then standing abruptly, the swordsman said, “We should leave at dawn.”

Crystal rose and nodded. “We should all retire. The journey to Faswyn shall be difficult and the nights bitter. Enjoy the beds while you can.”

As Serena shuffled after her guardians, a dwarf grabbed her by the upper arm, stopping her abruptly. She turned toward the red-haired dwarf, her forehead wrinkled in surprise, and asked, “May I help you?”

The dwarf had a knee-length beard sprinkled with bits of breadcrumbs and a dazed look in his eyes. Leaning closer, he professed, “Secrets never keep in the mountains. Soon even you shall know the whole truth.”

“How should you know any of our secrets?” Serena asked. She jerked her arm away from the dwarf, but his grip remained firm on her.

Crystal intervened, removing the dwarf’s hand from Serena’s arm and shoving him away from her. Taking Serena by the hand, the archer dragged her toward the door and said, “Pay him no mind. He is drunk.” As she marched Serena toward one of the dining hall’s exits, many of the dwarfs watched them through narrowed eyes, murmuring as they passed each table.

When they entered the tunnel, Crystal released her grasp on Serena’s arm but remained by her side. As the guardians ushered Serena and Will further from the dining hall, they could hear the echo of the dwarf exclaiming, “The mountains reveal all!” The snickering of unruly dwarfs rang after them.

“What on earth could they mean by that?” Serena asked, glancing behind them as the taunts became harder to hear.

“They’re all crazy,” Crystal said. Serena thought she saw a hint of nerves flash in the guardian’s blue eyes, but just as quickly, Crystal steeled herself. “We can’t be out of here quick enough.”

When they reached their room, Crystal and Xandra nudged Serena through the doorway, barely muttering goodnight as they closed the door behind them.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.