Free Shadows of the Dark Crystal by J. M. Lee

breath. The air grew hot and tense in anticipation, and Naia felt an ugly chill crawl up her back. Lord skekLach plucked a final wedge of the stringy vegetable meat, and Maudra Mera tried to hide a tremble while the last wet sounds of Lord skekLach’s feasting echoed through the silent square.
    The silence was broken when skekLach let out a thundering roar. Naia’s heart plummeted in fear. Was he unhappy? What would this failure entail? How might Maudra Mera and the Gelfling of Sami Thicket atone for the displeasure of a Skeksis Lord?
    â€œGWAAAHHHH-HA-HA-HA!”
    With a gulp, Naia realized the terrible sound was laughter. Following a collective sigh of relief, the Spriton band started up, and Maudra Mera turned away, wiping her forehead with her sleeves. The reception had passed, and the feast had begun.

Chapter 9
    N aia sat alone on one of the many benches in the square, eating carefully with a pronged fork that a Podling had offered her. She ate slowly, though she wanted for all the world to scarf it down by the handful in her hunger. No one joined her, and that was fine, or so she told herself. She fed small pieces of food to Neech, but he spit them out, finally gliding free of her shoulder and off into the night to find prey more to his taste. For Naia, the Spriton food was palatable, though she longed for a sliver of fish or wort beetle. For the others—even the Skeksis Lords—it seemed scrumptious. Even well into the night, the two lords continued to call for more platters of food and goblets of wine. She watched them from the far end of the square, determined to stay out of their attention for the duration of their stay in Sami Thicket. This was Maudra Mera’s affair. If it were somehow spoiled and Naia was within the village bounds, there would be no hearing the end of it from her parents.
    After supper, the children and the Podlings collected the dishes in a barrel of water for rinsing in the river. Naia tried to help, ready to carry a barrel to the river herself, but she was greeted only with cautious glances, so she surrendered her dish with a quiet thank-you. Turning back to the square, she saw a longline of Spriton had formed, leading up to the head table where the two lords were still seated. The platters of food had been cleared and replaced with only a large decanter of wine. Lord skekOk placed before him an enormous stack of paper, bound together with sinewy twine between two heavy leather covers. She’d heard of books before, but this was the first one she’d ever seen. He split it open to some page near the center and, when one of his castle attendants offered them, took a quill and pot of ink and set them to his right. From the distance, Naia watched as each Gelfling stood before him, one at a time, speaking to the lord as he moved the quill across the paper, staining it with a long stream of black ink. Naia jumped when a hand landed on her shoulder. Maudra Mera had joined her.
    â€œThe lords are taking count of all who live in Sami Thicket,” she said. “Since you do not live here, my little soggy pet, you needn’t join the line.”
    â€œWhy does he take count? The lords have never taken count in Sog.”
    In fact, Naia wasn’t sure the lords had ever
visited
Sog, let alone taken count. The question was probably inappropriate, diving into the Spriton’s business, but Naia asked it, anyway. The
maudra
could always refuse to respond. She touched one of Naia’s locs absentmindedly, as if she’d never seen a thing like them before.
    â€œIt’s only worth counting what’s valuable,” she said, and Naia swallowed the jumble of words that rose in her throat. The
maudra
went on to smooth her cowl, arranging it and setting her black braids just so at her shoulder. “Now, listen, dear. I’ve put up a cotfor you in my chamber to sleep the night. It’s a bit cool now, but Mimi will get the fire started soon enough.