version of eternal life, by making them one with the land and plants and animals.â
âIâm sorry,â I scoffed. âBut Iâd rather deal with blood and death and return as a person than water some pretty flowersand pay my debts and come back as a wheat field.â
âWell, you are biased. But for them, becoming part of the land is a form of immortality. They would rather try to live full lives here and now than be faced with death and murder only to be reborn and have to face it all over again. Acacius offers gardens and farms, trees and flowers. You will find little hunger in Rennes.â
We struggled to break free of the crowd, Faraday steering the wagon past the heavy gates of the city walls. He shifted in his seat. âYou donât have to go after the Da Vias, you know.â
I stiffened. I hadnât told him my plan.
âDonât be alarmed. It just seems your most likely course of action.â Faraday grinned. âBut no one seems to realize you, Lea Saldana, survived the attack on your Family. Very few people get such a clean chance at starting over.â
I pushed my growing anger aside. âYouâre suggesting I give up serving Safraella? You? Her disciple?â My whole life Iâd been a clipper. If I gave it up now, no one would avenge my Family. Memories of the Saldanas would fade, until weâd simply become another of the lost Families. âBeing a clipper is a calling.â
âOh, I understand a calling. But can it truly be counted one if youâre born into it? Did your mother or father ever ask if you wanted to be something else?â
I snorted. âWho would give up a life of money and power and respect?â
âThose things are gone with the lives of your Family.Those things are fleeting, as you can see. Intangible.â
I looked away, scanning the faces of the crowd around us. They blended together until I didnât truly see anyone. âI do not care for the turn of this conversation, Brother.â
Faraday held up a hand in surrender. âI apologize. I forget you are not of the church and unused to discussions of philosophy and faith. I spoke out of concern for a sister and that is all.â
âWhatever my plans are, they are well considered.â Find Marcello. Enlist his help. Kill the Da Vias before they realized Iâd survived their attack. Simple.
Faraday nodded, then drove the wagon down a street almost as busy as the entrance. He pulled the wagon off to the side and stopped.
âHere we are.â He gestured to a small building to his left. The setting sun highlighted a carving on the door, a blank bone mask. This was a church of Safraella.
âThey allow our churches here?â I asked.
âClippers are not allowed in Yvain, of course, but they do permit a few small churches. Mostly for the use of the monasteries. We return as many bodies from the dead plains to Rennes as we do to Lovero, but many of us canât make the trip back to our monasteries in one day. Iâll stay here for the night and head back in the morning. There is plenty of room for you, too. The Brothers will be happy to welcome you.â
It would be easy to walk into the church, get a good nightâs sleep, then find my uncle in the morning.
But the Addamos were already after me. If they had sentmembers to the monasteries, then next theyâd be heading for the nearest cities, including Yvain. And the first place theyâd check would be the churches. Anyone could be made to talk. Anyone.
âThis will be where we part ways,â I said.
Faradayâs smile dropped, but he nodded.
I jumped off the wagon and grabbed my two bags. âThank you, Brother Faraday. I wish I could offer you something. In the past I wouldâve granted you good grace with the Saldana Family. I still could, but itâs not worth much these days.â
âIâll take it.â He leaned over me. âYou may be the
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