Skies Read Free Page A

they both shared a seemingly innate ability to utterly infuriate her.
    “Lessons?” Lhaurel asked finally.
    “Indeed, child. Lessons indeed.”

Chapter 2
Wonder
    “. . . though the names of the Progressions help in their understanding, they are also limiting by design.”
    — From the Discourses on Knowledge, Volume 14, Year 854
     
    A knock sounded on the wagon wall, emanating from near the door. Talha looked over with her face scrunched in confusion.
    “Ah, yes,” she said, her expression clearing. “Food. I thought perhaps you’d be hungry, what with the poor rations Sellia saw fit to provide you.”
    Talha got to her feet, beckoning for Lhaurel to follow. Lhaurel got up as well, following after the woman out of curiosity more than any real hunger. They’d given her some bread and water earlier in the day. The day before she’d even been given several large chunks of dried meat. Lhaurel wasn’t sure what sort of meat it was, but she’d eaten it anyway. It had tasted familiar, at least.
    Talha opened the door to the wagon and stepped out. Lhaurel hesitated for a moment, eyes adjusting to the direct sunlight. Except for a few brief moments at night when they let her out to empty her bladder, Lhaurel hadn’t been out of the wagon since being taken prisoner. For a fleeting moment, she contemplated running, then Talha’s hand wrapped around her wrist and tugged her out into the open air.
    A long table had been set up on the ground next to her wagon, upon which a pure white cloth had been placed. Lhaurel’s attention was immediately drawn to the mounds of food resting on top of the cloth.
    Dozens of different foods rested in metal dishes the color of early morning sun. Large glass pitchers of various liquids rested between the platters of food, though Lhaurel only gave them a passing glance. She counted four different kinds of meat glistening and steaming in the chill air, a dozen different breads, and an array of fruits she didn’t recognize. Only two chairs were set up next to the table.
    “This is all for us?” Lhaurel asked, her voice soft and her expression slack with incredulity.
    “I ate earlier, child,” Talha said, pulling her to a chair and then sitting in the other herself. “I wasn’t sure which foods you’d prefer, so I had the servants prepare a little bit of everything. I know it’s rather sparse, but still better than what you’ve had until now.”
    Lhaurel gaped. This was more food than what the Roterralar could have eaten during a banquet, and she’d thought some of their meals had been extravagant. Lhaurel just stared at it all, overwhelmed and hesitant to participate in such a meal when she knew her own people would be struggling for food now, fighting their way through the mountain passes. Eventually, however, her stomach betrayed her by rumbling at the savory smells that wafted toward her.
    Lhaurel reached for a platter of meat, not bothering with the strange utensils that lay next to the platter on the table in front of her. She’d dumped about half the tray onto her platter before she noticed the woman dressed in white standing next to her. She jumped as the woman bowed slightly in her direction.
    “Honored Sister,” the woman breathed in Lhaurel’s tongue, though with an inflection that made it seem like the language wasn’t hers either, “may I assist you with your meal?”
    Lhaurel glanced over at Talha, but the Sister was busy writing in her book again, which someone had fetched from the wagon for her. Lhaurel looked back to the white-clothed woman, noticing that the woman wore a blue shufari about her waist. What was that doing here?
    “I can do it myself,” Lhaurel said, returning to her meal and choosing to ignore the woman.
    She sampled a little of everything, making note of those foods she liked and those she didn’t. Lhaurel had tried pouring herself a drink at some point during the meal, but the white-clad servant had immediately taken the pitcher from her