“I . . . I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. You’re my daughter and I love you unconditionally, but I love Poppy the same way and it pains me to see you make her so unhappy. She’s more sensitive than you. . . .” He broke off again, searching for the right words. “I want to see you making more of an effort with her from now on. No more mean comments, no more jokes at her expense. I want you to spend time with her. Be the kind of older sister you’d like to have yourself.”

Starling was frowning openly and mutinously, but her da ignored her.

“Your eleventh birthday is coming up. I’m spoiling the surprise, but I don’t think you’ll mind; we got you a hunting bow.”

Starling’s frown vanished into an excited squeak of delight. Her da smothered a grin.

“Yes, it’s a real beauty,” he said proudly. “Traded for it at the floating market and the bartering went on for over an hour. Worth it though. Beautiful egret-feather arrow flights—you’ll love it.”

“Egret feathers,” Starling breathed. “From the bog clan.”

“Yes,” he grinned. “Sure you wouldn’t have preferred kingfisher from the river folk? Eagle from the mountains? There were some cave clan traders there too. . . .”

A shiver of delighted horror ran through her and Starling threw her arms around his neck. “No,” she said, her voice muffled. “Egret is perfect.”

“Your first deerstalk would normally be when you’re older,” he went on, “but your ma and I have decided to let you go early. You have the skills, and it’s safe enough still in these parts, thankfully.”

Starling’s jaw dropped wide open in amazement.

“There is one condition,” her da said, holding her at arm’s length until he’d finished. “Take Poppy with you.”

The effect of his words was immediate. The joy and excitement faded from Starling’s face to be replaced by a sullen glare. “But Poppy’s useless at hunting,” she said moodily. “She’ll ruin everything.”

Her da took a deep breath to control his impatience. “This is exactly what I’m talking about, Starling. Poppy isn’t ‘useless’—she’s just younger than you. And she’s as good a tracker as you were at her age.”

Starling sniffed at this.

“With you helping her, she’ll learn faster and maybe you’ll even enjoy teaching her. What do you say?”

Starling shrugged. “So, I can’t go without her?”

Her da sighed. “No, you can’t.”

“Well then, I’ll have to take her, I suppose,” Starling said grudgingly, flopping back onto the log next to him.

Her da shook his head slowly, his disappointment obvious. “Think about the person you want to be, Starling.”

“Twelve! TWELVE! WAKE UP!”

She gasped. Her eyes opened.

Think about the person you want to be.