The Pariah Child_Sarafina's Return by Natasha D. Lane

Author:Natasha D. Lane [Lane, Natasha D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: YA, Fantasy, Romance
Published: 2019-07-31T22:00:00+00:00

“It’s not what I expected,” Sarah said to Klara the next morning.

The dwarf smirked. “What did you think? I was going to fall the ground and start chatting with all of Lyrica?”

“That’s exactly what she was expecting,” Skuntz laughed. “Look. It’s written all over her face.”

Sarah glared at him, before focusing on Klara once more.

“Ignore the idiot. I wasn’t sure what to expect, just not…this.” Sarah held both her hands out, gesturing to the space around them. The Whispering Wall was actually three walls, each with a collection of holes precisely burrowed in even columns and rows. The holes in the bottom row were all labeled. The higher rows—the dwarves had ladders to reach these spots—did not have the same bronze plaques.

At least from what Sarah could see. The rows continued up beyond her eyesight.

“Sure, sure. Of course you weren’t.” He sent Sarah a wink.

She could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks. Skuntz was such a pain.

“Well, whatever you may have thought doesn’t matter now,” Klara said, adjusting the shiny axe on her back. She had made sure to polish it before they departed that morning.

Looking at Sarah and Skuntz, she placed both hands on her hips.

“There is a Cavern Hole that we have to use. Any messages sent there will be delivered to all dwarves. But,” she held up a finger, “we don’t want to disturb anyone else, meaning we must stay quiet.”

An elderly couple walking by made it a point to frown at Sarah and Skuntz. Shaking their heads, they continued walking and Sarah realized the problem.

“If we’re not quiet, messages can overlap?”

Klara bobbed her head.

“Skuntz should stop laughing like a cackling hen, then?” Sarah said. “That’s fine by me.”

“I do not—”

“Shhhh.” Both women held a finger to their lips.

He scowled.

Following behind Klara, they made their way to a hole in the right wall. It was slightly larger than the other and its plaque was in gold instead of bronze. Sarah couldn’t read the actual words on the label.

“Old dwarven,” Klara said when she caught her staring. “It’s not used often for writing anymore, but we do like to preserve some of the old ways. Give me a little space, please.”

Tucking her orange strands behind her ear, Klara placed her mouth beside the hole and raised her right hand over her chest. She began humming.

The noise started low and deep, gradually rising to a more throaty sound. Both Skuntz and Sarah had stepped back when Klara warned them. Yet, at the start of her humming, Sarah found herself leaning toward the dwarf, her ears perking at the odd vocals.

How could any of what Sarah had told Klara about Ellen and Emma be translated into that?

Several moments passed. Klara finally straightened and stepped back. She dusted off her hands.

“I did the best I could with the little information we had. Now, we must wait.”

Skuntz asked, “How long do replies usually take?”

She shrugged. “It depends. Sometimes—”

Wisps of grunts and groans poured from the Whispering Wall all at once. Almost

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.