His silent answer sent that magical loom
tumbling from his invisible grip, and he knew
if he looked, his dark hair and sapphire eyes
would have returned. Asterin sighed in relief.
But Manon smiled grimly, as if she’d heard
his unspoken answer. And understood.
Night was full overhead, the Crochans’ fires
crackling away beneath the lattice of leafless
trees, when Glennis asked, “Have any of you
seen the Wastes?”
The Thirteen blinked toward the crone. She
didn’t usually address them all at once, or ask
such personal questions.
But at least Glennis spoke to them. Three
days of travel, and Manon was no closer to
winning the Crochans over than she’d been
upon their departure from the Fangs. Though
they spoke to her, and occasionally joined
Glennis’s hearth for meals, it was with as few