Half Claimed novel · Chapter 23 of 24
Chapter 23: The Answer
The Moon Stone looks different at noon.
At night it is a black shelf with torches on it.
In the sun it is only warm grey granite, worn smooth by two hundred years of people standing nervously on it.
I climbed the last steps alone.
Every pack at the Gathering stood on the slope below, packed to the tree line, and nobody was talking.
Odell stood in front with his hair flat for once, and a toffee, unwrapped and forgotten, in his fist.
Lorne was beside him, one arm in a sling.
The twelve copyists had come in a row with ink on their sleeves, and the old white-haired one gave me a small stern nod.
The three Elders waited at the edge of the Stone in their grey wool.
Idris stood in the middle of it in his father's coat, with his long hair tied properly for once and his hands at his sides.
His heart was going as fast as it had on the first night.
So was mine.
I stopped in front of him, a pace away.
Neither of us had counted.
"I'd like to say something first," I said, to the slope.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of Half Claimed are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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