The Blood Mirror Never Lies novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: The Burning

I put the silver pen down on the paper without signing it.

"I'd rather be unwritten twice," I said.

Odette's smile stayed exactly where it was.

"Of course," she said. "It's your choice."

She took the paper back, folded it small and climbed into her carriage.

She left the basket of bread behind. I noticed that, and I didn't know why it bothered me.

By dusk I knew why.

The child with the cheese came running down the lane with her braids flying.

"Torches!" she shouted. "There's men on the ridge, and they've got torches!"

The Hollow came out of its doors.

There were eight of them on horses, in grey, with the Court's seal sewn on their shoulders. Behind them came a cart of straw and tar barrels.

The lead rider unrolled a writ.

"By order of the Council of Ravenmoor," he read, "the land known as the Hollow is reclaimed. All persons will leave by nightfall. Any who remain will be removed."

"They've nowhere to go," the old woman said. She said it flatly, as though she were reading a weather report.

"They have until dark," said the rider.

I looked at the nineteen faces around me.

A man with one hand. A girl younger than I was. A woman holding a baby in a knitted grey cap.

My wrist was on fire.

I picked up the iron poker beside the nearest cottage door.

I didn't know why. My hand knew how to hold it, with the point low and the weight back, and my feet had already moved apart.

"Elspeth," the old woman whispered. "Don't."

"Somebody has to," I said.

The first rider lowered his torch toward the thatch.

Hooves hammered up the lane behind him.

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