Kingdom of Sea and Stone

After leaving the horses in a stable stocked with hay and grain, we entered the log cabin. It was enormous inside, with a massive fireplace and a dozen small beds lined up against one wall. There were cupboards full of supplies and even a large metal tub for bathing, though I noticed it lacked any kind of privacy.

“These cabins are all over Galeth,” Roan explained as we unpacked our bags. “Travelers can stay here whenever they wish. The idea is to replace the supplies you use the next time you pass through.”

“And it’s safe?” Grig peered around the open space, as if someone might be lurking in the shadows.

Roan puffed out a sardonic laugh. “Of course.”

“Everyone in Galeth is good and honest?” I asked skeptically. “There are no bandits or robbers in the entire country?”

“I wouldn’t say that.” Roan pulled off his boots and sat down on one of the beds. I noted the location so I could pick one as far away as possible. “But there isn’t much worth stealing. And if they need something that badly, none of us would deny them anyway.”

I remembered what the kite seller and Talin had said about women traveling alone in Ilara. But in Galeth, where the women seemed just as capable as the men, I wondered if that was still a concern. If I had been trained to ride and fight from birth, things at New Castle might have gone very differently. “That’s nice,” I said, eliciting a strange look from Talin. “I only mean it’s nice that you help each other.” In Varenia, we had always looked after family, but everyone else was competition for dwindling resources.

Roan nodded and rose to his feet. “Right. I’ll get the supper started. Zadie, Nor, do you want to get us some firewood? It looks like the stock is a little low. You boys can help me.”

Talin, Osius, and Grig blinked at Roan as if he’d just spoken a foreign language. Grig, who had helped Zadie cook during our journey, moved toward the kitchen, but Osius shook his head.

“It’s dark out, and we’re in a foreign land. The ladies should stay inside while we get the firewood.”

“The ladies look perfectly capable to me,” Roan said. Talin’s cheeks turned a shade I’d never seen before, and I grabbed Zadie’s hand and hurried out before he exploded.

“What was that all about?” Zadie asked when we reached the side of the house where the firewood was stacked.

“I have no idea. Roan asked if Talin and I were...” I trailed off, embarrassed. Zadie and I hadn’t ever talked about this before.

“If you were what?” she asked.

“Lovers,” I muttered.

“Lovers? As in, if you aren’t, then he’d like you to be his?” Her eyebrows had risen to her hairline. “That was brazen of him.”

I twisted my lips to the side. “Maybe? Although I suspect that’s perfectly normal here. I suppose we shouldn’t assume that customs are the same as what we’re used to everywhere.”

“I suppose not,” Zadie said, clearly lost in thought.

I nodded for her to step farther from the house with me. “What about you and Sami?” I asked. “Are you...you know?” It felt like something I should know about my own twin, but things had changed since I’d left, as Zadie often reminded me.

She smiled, blushing. “We’re not ready for a child, if that’s what you’re asking. But we’ve done other things.”

“Where? How?”

She shrugged. “The boat.”

“Zadie!” I nearly dropped the wood I was gathering. “Weren’t you afraid that Mother would find out?” Mother had always made it clear that our “virtue” was one of the considerations for being the chosen girl, and even after, that it was to be saved for marriage.

“Nor, after everything that Sami and I have been through in the past few months, I’m not afraid of anything anymore. As soon as I have him in my arms again, I don’t plan to ever let go.”

I flushed and stared at my sister with new eyes. “I see.”

She started toward the log cabin, glancing once over her shoulder at me with a knowing smile that only made me blush harder. “You don’t yet. But you will soon enough.”

I stared after her, wondering what exactly she meant. Did she assume that Talin and I were headed down the same path she and Sami were on? Did Talin? Before I left Varenia the first time, I hadn’t given much thought to my future there. My daydreams were all about the world beyond my village. And since then, I hadn’t dreamed about anything beyond a secure future for the people I loved.

I hefted the wood in my arms and told myself there was no point in speculating about my own future. After all, I’d spent years imagining Ilara, and look how wrong I’d turned out to be. But something about our conversation nagged at me as I made my way back to the cabin.

How could Zadie and Talin know where I was headed, if I didn’t even know myself?

12



Leesbrook, the capital of Galeth, was located in the center of the country. We traveled along acres of farmland with rich, dark soil, worked by heavy draft horses and their owners, who waved to us as we passed. I noticed that all of the roads were far softer and better maintained than any I’d seen before, which Roan explained was an initiative to protect the horses’ feet. Their manure was also used to fertilize the pastures, which in turn grew the lush green grass that became the hay they ate. There were herds of free-roaming horses in the mountains, but here they were pastured, to protect the soil from their hooves.

We entered Leesbrook in the late afternoon. It was clearly the hub of commerce in Galeth; the streets were wide enough for carriages and lined with shops of all kinds. Horses were tied to hitching posts up and down the street. Young boys and girls waited with shovels and pails, charging a nickel a pile. They heaped the manure onto wagons that carried it out to the countryside for fertilizer.

“The council meets at nightfall,” Roan told us as we wound through the city streets toward a timber inn. “These are your lodgings. I’ll come for you when it’s time.”

He left without a backward glance, disappearing among the crowds. A girl ran out to take our horses to the stables, collecting a coin from Talin that she tested with her teeth before pocketing.

Inside, the inn was dark and smoky, and I was glad when we were shown immediately to our rooms upstairs. Zadie and I were down the hall from the men, and I was grateful for the time alone with my sister.

“I can’t believe I’m going to see Sami soon,” she said, instantly stripping out of her riding clothing and searching in her bag for the one gown Talin had permitted us each to purchase in Riaga. “Help me change, would you?”