Sing the Four Quarters by Tanya Huff

Author:Tanya Huff [Huff, Tanya]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, epic fantasy
ISBN: 978-1-625671-22-6
Publisher: Jabberwocky Literary Agency, Inc.
Published: 2015-11-11T16:00:00+00:00

Eleven

Annice woke with a start, jerking out of a dream where she’d fallen in the middle of River Road, her legs unable to hold her weight. With the thunder of hooves against the hard-packed earth filling the world around her, she’d only been able to desperately try to roll clear. Trained to recall her dreams and use them for inspiration, she shoved this one aside. There’s a limit to art imitating life.

As she lifted her head, Pjerin shifted behind her, flexing the arm she’d been resting against.

“Welcome back,” he said quietly.

Yawning, Annice heaved herself awkwardly to her feet, rubbing the imprint of the stone step out of her butt. “How long was I asleep?”

“Long enough for my legs to go numb.” He shook them out and pushed himself upright against the wall, wincing as a thousand points of pain danced from ankles to hips.

“You could’ve moved me.”

He gestured around the narrow stairwell and asked, “Where? Look, don’t worry about it,” he went on, trying to pound some feeling back into his calves. “It was more important that you sleep. How are you feeling?”

“Better,” she admitted. The baby stirred as though it, too, were just waking. She smiled and traced the motion with her fingertips. “I think everything’s all right.”

“Good.” Leaning against the wall, Pjerin realized he sounded abrupt and wondered if he should tell her how frightened he’d been that she was going to lose the baby. No, he decided. That’s over. Time to move on. “So,” he asked instead, “what now?”

Annice sighed. “I have to use the privy.”

Pjerin managed to stop himself before the of course you do left his mouth. “So do I.”

Together they turned and stared at the dark curve of wall at the foot of the stairs.

Annice, being closer, reached out and laid her hand flat on the cool stone.

“Do you think it’s safe to leave?”

She shrugged, then realized he probably couldn’t see her, and said, “I don’t know. Even if the guards aren’t around, people are going to notice a pair of traders going out the Bard’s Door.”

“Perhaps it’s time we stopped being traders.” He spoke lightly, not intending to start another argument. To his astonishment, she agreed, turned, and started up the stairs. “Where are you going?” he demanded as she squeezed past.

“If we’re not going to be traders,” Annice explained, pausing just above him, “we have to be something else. Sometimes—like now, in First Quarter, when most of the bards are out Walking—a bard will have to Sing more than one Quarter during a service. When that happens, they leave extra robes in the gallery behind the balconies.” She started climbing again.

He caught her arm. “We’re going to be bards?”

She threw a smile back over her shoulder. “Why not? They’re looking for traders.”

Mouth pressed to a thin line, Pjerin let her go and returned to working on his legs. He’d been able to see her face clearly as she passed, her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were gleaming, and she’d obviously forgotten the lesson the guards had taught them.

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