4
Hero of the Realm
Bearers must only become such to help those who remain behind. Those whose songs continue to play can only find peace through the careful help of those who bear them.
—Excerpt from The Book of the Traveler
Being face down in the dirt, thousands of miles away from home, and running on suspect information from local youths who would make up anything for a chipcoin had Ashlyn second-guessing her entire plan. This was a mistake.
She freed her foot from the strange rope that ran across the garden, brushed off what she could, and smoothed out her traveling skirt. She took another look at the house, if you could even call it that. Ashlyn had grown accustomed to the opulence of Toltaire, but this house had seen much, much better days. The roof was a disjointed patchwork of
