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Chapters (102)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. Map
  5. DRAMATIS PERSONAE
  6. BOOKI
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. 9
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. BOOKII
  30. 1
  31. 2
  32. 3
  33. 4
  34. 5
  35. 6
  36. 7
  37. 8
  38. 9
  39. 10
  40. 11
  41. 12
  42. 13
  43. 14
  44. 15
  45. 16
  46. 17
  47. 18
  48. 19
  49. BOOKIII
  50. 1
  51. 2
  52. 3
  53. 4
  54. 5
  55. 6
  56. 7
  57. 8
  58. 9
  59. 10
  60. 11
  61. 12
  62. 13
  63. 14
  64. 15
  65. 16
  66. 17
  67. BOOKIV
  68. 1
  69. 2
  70. 3
  71. 4
  72. 5
  73. 6
  74. 7
  75. 8
  76. 9
  77. 10
  78. 11
  79. BOOKV
  80. 1
  81. 2
  82. 3
  83. 4
  84. 5
  85. 6
  86. 7
  87. 8
  88. 9
  89. 10
  90. 11
  91. 12
  92. 13
  93. 14
  94. 15
  95. 16
  96. 17
  97. 18
  98. Glossary
  99. Acknowledgments
  100. Also by Andrea Hairston
  101. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  102. Newsletter Sign-up

They hurried through a maze of passageways back to the Council chamber, back to unsettling truth: they could all—master, thief-lord, guard, emperor, and elephant—lose everything.

6

A Mission

Awa was exhausted. Long-legged Green Elders had marched for a week, hardly resting or eating, rarely talking. They shared names only once. Awa remembered Yari, a veson with dancing braids and a singer’s voice, and Isra, a spiky-haired barbarian with a throaty laugh. No one else—she’d been too sad or mad to pay attention.

Yari gave full purses to farmers who sold daughters and younger sons to stave off ruin. The farmers were desperate, like Father. But Yari never bargained, even when the girls were skinny and sickly and likely to slow them down. A few boys ran off, back to their farms perhaps. Isra railed against treachery and warned Yari to save some sky rocks so they wouldn’t starve. Yari shrugged and kissed Isra’s cheek.

Mother was wrong. A Green Elder journey through the wild country wasn’t an adventure filled with song and wonder. Scrambling over roots and loose rocks took most of their focus. They traveled mountain tunnels or rugged goat paths, avoiding solid elephant roads. At night Yari whispered explanations to sullen faces while Isra and the other Elders kept watch. Most good citizens had forgotten that elephants first stomped wide thoroughfares from glacier-fed lakes to fruit forests. Awa knew this already. She and Kenu had read elephant escapades in Father’s scrolls.

High priest Hezram collected tolls on the elephant roads, even far from Holy City. If travelers couldn’t pay, they were sold to pay the debt or sent to transgressor huts to be bled. Hezram declared Elders enemies of the temple and banned them from elephant roads. He paid a generous reward for captured Elders. Mother spoke truth. Yari, Isra, and the others risked their lives to collect Sprites. Crafty farmers sold Yari their daughters then turned vie in for a reward. Mercenaries hunted them. No Elders sang for fear of ambush.

Goat paths challenged muscles and joints. Awa hurt all over. When Elders stopped for water and a few berries, they also rubbed achy ankles. She wished she could have gone with Kenu to apprentice in Holy City next year. Building a tower to the stars had to be better than running and hiding for your life. The other Sprites cut their eyes at her, suspicious. She had no one to trade stories with, even the bees in her hair were quiet. Did Kenu feel as lonely as she did?