The Stone Girl's Story by Sarah Beth Durst

Author:Sarah Beth Durst
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Chapter

Fourteen

Mayka tried to be patient as Master Siorn studied her and the birds. He sketched them. He measured them. He instructed her to raise her arms, then touch her toes, then turn her head, then sit and stand and walk and even demonstrate how well she could use her fingers to tie a knot in a ribbon. All the while, he murmured praise about her father, which was nice to hear but not why she’d come.

Every time she tried to ask a question—​about Father, about Skye, about the Stone War—​he shushed her absentmindedly, his attention clearly on his notes, not on her words.

She gritted her teeth and managed not to complain, though, because he’d promised to save her and her friends, and he had fixed Jacklo. Risa spent the entire time next to Jacklo’s cage, scolding him about being reckless and irresponsible and worrying her so badly that she wanted to molt, which was impossible because she was stone. All the while, Jacklo hung his head and promised to be more careful.

At last Master Siorn put down his pencil, and Mayka thought, Yes! Now we’ll talk about recarving us. But instead he said, “Garit, continue with your notes. Measure the birds carefully and record copies of their marks. As fascinating as this discovery is, I must work on my masterpiece.”

“Yes, sir,” Garit said.

Before Mayka could ask any questions, he bustled toward a heavy door covered in iron decorations at the back of the workroom. He swung the door open, and Mayka caught a glimpse of a massive mound of rocks inside a cavernous room—​before she could see anything else, he’d shut the door behind him.

Si-Si waddled over to the door, sat, and stared at it forlornly. During all this time, Master Siorn had barely noticed her. And now they’d all been deserted, in favor of his “masterpiece.” Morosely, Si-Si curled into a ball next to the door and rested her head on her front paws.

Mayka realized the stonemason had never answered the little dragon’s question. Si-Si didn’t know if he would try to fix her, now that he knew it could be done. I should have asked again for her, Mayka thought. But Master Siorn hadn’t been paying attention to anything but studying them.

“He forgot about me,” Si-Si said.

Garit shot an apologetic look at her. “I’m sure he’ll help you when he gets a chance. With Master Kyn’s birds to study, it should be possible to replicate his marks for flight.”

Springing up, Si-Si danced in place. “Oh, oh! You think so? Me, flying! Could it really happen?”

“Just not until after the festival,” he cautioned. “That’s his priority right now. Master Siorn cares deeply about his work. He believes he’s the one who will restore the reputation of stonemasons to what it was before the Stone War. Stonemasons used to be revered.”

“What was this Stone War?” Mayka asked.

He glanced at the door to the workroom. “Bad luck to talk about it before a festival. And I’m supposed to finish his notes. So .

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.