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sup-plies for a siege, so we ll have to meet Nov in the field, try to cut them
down, get behind them, and break their supply lines. It will help a great deal
if we can divert their supplies to us, but you understand that in no way
changes the situation. We can t wear a long war. He flipped the papers back,
squared the pile. That is the situation, O Marn.
And Nov himself?
He s still in the Pevranamist, but the word from the source is that he will
be leaving to join the army within the next three days; we suspect the Sleykyn
will be leav-ing then, one at least as his bodyguard.
Is there any chance of killing him?
Heslin and the Web are dealing with that. If it s pos-sible they ll do it; if
not, they ll let us know.
Prak. Leaning forward, fingers laced on the shining wood, she looked down the
long table. I see several un-happy faces. Is anyone here under the illusion
that Nov wouldn t march on you if I weren t here? Zdra zdra, I m sure there
are several of you without the courage to say it before the Mask. She
pushed back the chair and stood. Pan Osk, Vedouce and I will leave you and
yours. I make this offer.
We will withdraw from Oskland and leave you free to make peace with Nov if you
so desire. I strongly suggest you talk to those who ve fled Dander and Calanda
before you make a final decision. Ask
Tingajil what happened in her family, why she had to leave. Ask Vyzharnos Gram
about the patch over his eye. Ask Zatko of the guards. Ask Zisk the scissors
grinder. Ask any of those who were driven from their homes and their family
why they left.
Behind the Mask she pinched her lips together, fighting back the anger that
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threatened to erupt in words that would make the situation irretrievable. A
deep breath, her voice steadied, she added, If you decide we should leave,
the weapons and stores we brought with us will go with us. She beckoned to
Vedouce and Zasya Myers and swept from the room, leaving a loud silence
behind.
Vedouce stood by the window as K vestmilly had the day Heslin announced his
intention of leaving.
She gri-maced, looked away. What do you think?
You took a chance.
Did I have a choice?
Nik. That poison festering behind us would kill us faster than Nov. He
leaned against the wall; the gray was thicker in his brown hair and the
wrinkles from nose to mouth had deepened to ravines. They ll go with us. They
have no more choice than you had, though they weren t willing to face that.
K vestmilly sighed. Until I rubbed their noses in it. Can we hold out till
winter? It isn t that far off.
I don t know. That s the truth, Marn.
13. Serpents Dancing
The Weaver s Hall was filled with shadows and silence. Chaya sat on the floor
by her loom, using the bench as a table while she tried to work out a pattern
for the damask she wanted to start on her home loom. If she went home, she d
have cousins and neighbors dropping by to bring her little gifts and stay to
talk endlessly; it was kind of them, but by the time the last one left, all
she had strength to do was clean house and go to bed. Her honey month would be
finished next week and life would go back to its ordinary round, but
she wanted to be ready to set up, so she d have a length of fine
cloth for the
Midsummer Weavers Fair in Mokadumise.
She had dozens of sketches in her notebook, flower forms, leaf forms,
crystals, and anything that caught her attention when she had a pencil in her
hand and a bit of paper but nothing sparked when she looked at them. She was
about to give up and go home, when the light strengthened and changed quality
in the Hall and a ripple of harp notes cascaded around her.
She swung round.
At the end of the aisle between the looms a fuzzy oval of pale golden light
shimmered above the dusty floor. As Chaya watched, a figure formed within the
light, a woman seated with a harp. She wore a leather skirt that brushed
against bare feet, a leather jacket with long fine fringes along the sleeves,
fringes that swayed as her arms moved, her short strong fingers plucking the
strings of the harp, a tune that
Chaya had not heard before.
Into the shimmer of the light, the Hall snakes came and other serpents, wild
ones from the fields, until there were half a hundred of them swaying to the
music.
They rose until they seemed to walk on the tips of their tails, wove round
each other, twisting and untwisting in pairs with an urgency that left no
doubt what was happen-ing there.
The light dimmed and vanished, only moon and lamp-light left in the hall.
The music faded with the light.
The serpents uncoupled and slid away.
Chaya sat without moving for several moments, then started sketching
furiously.
>>
The woman ran from the house, stood in the middle of the road waving her arms.
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