Free The Sage Seed Chronicles: The Unraveling by Holly Barbo

she had overheard from ‘Dusty Hat’ and ‘Brown Beard’.
“I don’t know why but it seems to me that those two somehow caused
her death. Though they can’t be the person who is following me,
because I believe he lost my trail, from the way they were talking
it sounded like they could be part of his band. I still don’t know
why they would want good, wise and older people killed but from
what I heard I became frightened for Ree’s sake. She could be in
danger!”
    Lor looked very thoughtful. “What were your
parent’s names?”, he asked, in almost a whisper. Erin bowed her
head and said softly, “I haven’t spoken their names since their
deaths. They were Robse and Shamra. My father was of the weavers
guild and my mother, Shamra, had talents with dyes and anything
herbal. She was also gifted with animals and I take after her that
way.”
    They road in silence for awhile. Lor seemed
to be deep in thought. Finally he turned his head toward Erin and
said, “Anything else to share?” Erin shrugged. “I have just bits.
There have been rough seas off the Sawblen coast and fishing
vessels lost.” and she related what she overheard from the two
glass guild men. “That isn’t all that unusual, is it? Father used
to tell me about the storms and tidal shifts because we have both
cool, grey Luna and our red turbulent Cear in our sky.” Lor raised
an eyebrow but remained silent, encouraging Erin to continue.
    Erin told of the lady at the weavers guild
booth asking for the green silk that her father made and that the
guild member hadn’t recognized her though she had met the woman
some years before. She concluded by telling Lor about the kindness
of the Herbalist and the Tanner. “He gave me this nice jerkin,
which will help me in my disguise, with the agreement that I will
check his beasts every few days. You don’t mind do you? It won’t
take time from what I do for you.”
    Lor, shook his head. “No I don’t mind. We
take care of each other. I am pleased that there are guildsmen in
this caravan that are aware of you... AND are aware of ‘Dusty hat
and Brown beard’. Tomorrow we will refine your disguise. The jerkin
will help. Moving your scarf to around your neck and adding a hat
will work. I will also look at your boots tonight. I want to work
on the soles. If I cannot change the sole prints enough I will get
you some other boots.” Erin pondered on the boot print and how she
hadn’t thought of that. It was a slip up that could have gotten her
killed.
    They put in a couple of hours on the road to
Morraton before they pulled off the road to camp for the night.
Erin unharnessed the horses and cared for them. She also filled a
couple of buckets at the river for their use. As she approached the
camp fire she could smell something mouth watering in Lor’s pot.
She cracked open her mental ‘door’ and slowly turned around as if
admiring the night sky. Luna had been in the sky for hours. It was
moving out of synchronization with Cear again. Her mother had
called Luna the rabbit moon, not only because its grey pockmarked
surface had a rabbit pattern but because it was the faster of the
two moons. Cear was like a small fretful child. It’s red face
showed turbulence with black and grey areas that shifted. It
sometimes seemed close then farther away and had a slower orbit. As
Lor called her to eat, Cear was just coming over the horizon and
the night was taking on a slightly orange glow. More importantly,
Erin had not detected any followers.
    Knowing that sound carried better in the
night air, Lor and Erin spoke of the days sales at Wellyn and the
fair, the day after tomorrow, at Morraton. Lor had had quite a few
sales of the new rose and amber glow stones for homes but for
workshop light some of the customers preferred the brighter white
light. It had been an interesting day. Since Morraton was an older
and more established city he was glad that there was a guild
warehouse there because it was possible that he