Melting Stones - By Tamora Pierce Page 0,12

about my travels as we rode onto the shores of Lake Hobin. We'd finally reached Moharrin, just as dark was setting in. Torches were lit on the road along the lake, to guide us past farms and orchards to the village.

"Jayat, go let Azaze know we're here." As Jayat rode ahead, Oswin told Rosethorn and Myrrhtide, "I know you're too tired for a big reception, but Azaze—our headwoman—also owns the inn. People tend to gather there as a matter of course. There will be some of them to greet you."

"As long as there is a decent meal, they may greet me as they choose." Myrrhtide snapped his horse's reins and moved ahead of us.

"I don't think you have to worry." Oswin sounded very innocent in the dark. "Azaze gives a decent meal to almost everyone."

I saw Rosethorn slap Oswin lightly. "Naughty."

I don't think Myrrhtide could hear. Or if he did, he pretended he didn't.

The Inn at Moharrin

I hung back as the grown-ups rode on. People rushed out of the houses as we reached the outskirts of the village. They surrounded Rosethorn and Myrrhtide, giving me the shivers. "Evumeimei, you are unhappy," Luvo remarked.

"Are you so weary from your journey?"

Luvo sees in the dark. I think he sees, anyway.

"People," I grumbled. "Look at them. They swarm around Rosethorn and Myrrhtide like ants at a feast. They do everything but wag their tails—"

"Ants do not have tails, Evumeimei."

He couldn't distract me so easily, not when I was cranky at seeing the old game begin again. "Don't play logic games, please. Just listen to them for me, will you?" I asked. Luvo could hear at great distances. It was very useful.

"They say it is an honor for their village and their island, that two dedicate initiates of Winding Circle temple are here. They say they could not have hoped for such blessings. They are happy, Evumeimei."

"They're happy now, Luvo. People always start out being grateful," I reminded him. "But under the gratitude? They're already telling themselves that Rosethorn owes—"

"Not Myrrhtide?"

Luvo was learning too many human tricks, including trying to distract me. It wasn't at all becoming for a rock to be so sly. I ignored him. "Fusspot, too, if you insist. That our people owe them work and magic. That they should half-kill themselves in the service of this, this beetle-spit village next to its chicken-piddle lake on its donkey-dung island. You watch. Fast enough their requests will turn into demands and orders. That's what people are like. If you do things for them? You turn from friend, or even helpful stranger, into a slave."

I hadn't noticed that Jayat had returned on foot. He'd come through the trees on my right. That was why I hadn't noticed him getting close to me. He'd heard some of what I told Luvo. "Evvy, how can you say that? Surely you don't believe people are so cruel."

I slumped in my saddle. I hated having this argument with others, even more so when they seemed like they might be sensible. I squinted so I could see Jayat's face better in the shadows. "I know they are that cruel. See here. My mother sold me as a slave when I was six. It was because I was one mouth too many, and only a girl. I understood that. The part I minded was where they sold me. They brought me all the way from Yanjing to Chammur. Why didn't they just sell me in Yanjing? At least I was born there, and I knew the language."

"You would have liked it if they sold you before they left?" Jayat sounded shocked.

"It would have made more sense," I answered. "In Chammur I was a stupid slave who could barely talk. I had to run away, my master beat me so much. Then I lived on the street. You really see the good side of people that way. They chase you from, their garbage heaps with brooms and rakes. They dump chamber pots on your head. They scream 'thief!' when you walk by, they steal what little you have, they kick you when they pass… For every person who did me a kindness, I knew twenty who left bruises on me."

Jayat took my horse's reins. "I'm sorry, Evvy I must have sounded like an idiot." He looked up at me. "But people are different here. We won't take advantage of either of your dedicates. You have to trust me on that. She'll see, won't she, Master Luvo?"

Luvo was as silent as