Page 13

“Could be.”

Which is grown-up talk for, “yes, but I don’t want to scare you.”

After I’ve cleaned my hands, Uncle Agnar uses the wooden ladle hanging on the side of the well to scoop up more water. He drinks so quickly that water runs down his chin and neck, and he swallows with these funny gulping sounds that make me giggle.

He passes the ladle to Lark, who seems just as thirsty as my uncle. Her fingers are long and pretty, even with dirt under her nails and that red cut across her knuckle.

The skin beneath her eyes looks purple, like maybe she’s tired. Her legs wobble when she hands the ladle back too. I want to shout, “sit down,” but I know for a fact that adults don’t usually like it when kids tell them what to do.

Knox doesn’t move at all. He stands all stiff and straight. Just like the soldiers do when they line up in rows in the town square and stare ahead at nothing while other people yell orders.

My stomach wobbles a little. I don’t like the way he’s standing there. It’s as if someone turned him into a statue.

“Sterling.” Lark’s voice when she says his name reminds me of how soft Mama’s used to be sometimes when she talked to Papa. Especially when she thought they were alone. “You said something about your water magic not working right?”

I rub my chest. I try not to think about Papa too much because it hurts my heart and makes me miss him even more. Whenever that happens, Mama gets even sadder.

Knox’s shoulders jerk before he shrugs. “Everything’s okay. Just difficult to focus with animated stone warriors trying to bash in your skull.”

Uncle Agnar grunts as he pulls his tunic over his head and stands with a naked chest in front of the gods and everyone. He uses his tunic to wipe sweat off his face and neck.

Mama would be so mad at him if she were here.

“Can’t say we don’t know how to have a good time.” Uncle Agnar sounds tired too.

Knox gives a little nod, but he’s looking at something far away. A big cliff with a building on top. “The fun never ends in Tirene.”

My nose wrinkles. I’m pretty sure this is one of those times when adults say one thing but mean another, because I don’t see how getting attacked by giant statues would be very much fun.

Lark glances up at Knox. “What do you think?”

“I think I’m pissed off.”

I pipe up. “Uh oh. If Mama heard me say that, she’d wash my mouth out with soap.”

Knox smiles at me. “Sorry, pipsqueak.”

“S’okay.”

Lark tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear before turning back to Knox. “I think we should talk to some gods.”

Excitement bubbles inside me. “Talk to gods? Real gods? You can do that?” I’ve only ever seen the little statues of gods in our house and the big ones at the temple. Mama says gods are always watching from way up above, but I never knew we could talk to them in person.

Lark lifts a shoulder. “I don’t know yet, but I think we should try.”

“Agreed.” Uncle Agnar narrows his eyes as he stares at the broken wall where the bad statues came from. “At the very least, we need to inform the Victory Goddesses of what’s happened.”

Sterling peers up at the cliff again. “Pretty sure they already know.”

“But we don’t have confirmation yet.” Lark sounds a little like my teacher when she’s trying to make a point. “And we need that.”

“I’ve got the goddesses.” My uncle puts his dirty tunic back on, which is kind of gross since he wiped his sweat all over it. “Stone is my thing, and their stone warriors created this mess.”

The pink and purple sky catches my eye. I love those colors. I sigh as they change to dark blue and leave only a thin line of orange behind where the sun vanished. The darker the sky becomes, the brighter my flame sprite glows. People in town always stare at me now, but I like having my sprite. I don’t have to be scared of the dark anymore.

“We should also try to talk to Valk and get the little one back to the palace.” Lark glances at me with kind eyes. “It’s getting late.”

“I’m not tired,” I fib. My eyes feel heavy, and my belly keeps grumbling, but I’m glad I didn’t miss the excitement.