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them shelter lived in Pine City’s domain. Granted, from what she understood a northern army would need to swerve considerably to the south plunder that area on their way to the city, but Katja had a different concern.
    Linda was one of Maron’s grandchildren and Katja’s age. She was beautiful, intelligent, warm and ladylike and the two of them had formed strong bonds for the last year. It had been painful to see her leave this summer to marry another Shade and so strengthen the secret order’s web of connections. Painful, but unavoidable. That was just the nature of this life.
    The problem was that Linda’s husband lived in Pine City.
    Katja closed her eyes and thought of the good times with Linda. Normal, calm moments of home and simple friendship which weren’t Katja’s fate but she had still been allowed to enjoy for some time. They had very little in common but that had turned out to be of no consequence.
    She hoped nothing would come of this war and that the dispute was merely mud-slinging on a large scale. But the northern noble families, the descendants of Torgeir Stonefoot, were infamous for constant warfare and struggles for power and Pine City would be a fine acquisition for a competitor in that nonsense. The surrounding farmlands were especially bountiful, the harbour was much used and the city controlled an important route. It and Farnar City were the most important connections between the north and the Inner Sea.
    Katja tried to convince herself on what the gossip had usually agreed upon: Valdimar wanted a city, not a smoking ruin. He would gain little by slaughtering the citizens if his army took the city. Linda’s husband was not of importance to non-Shades and would not have to go down along with Pine City’s leadership.
    But not too long ago a northern army had gone mad after a trying battle and gone berserk on the streets of a city in defiance of their orders. The Red Day, it was called, and was fresh in people’s memories as a great atrocity.
    Flee to the countryside, Linda , Katja thought and looked north. Flee to the Shades and wait for the storm to pass.
    She occasionally looked at Serdra but if the older Redcloak glanced at her in turn it was only when Katja was looking elsewhere.
    The woman usually said little that did not relate to Katja’s training to some degree. Nevertheless, Katja felt she had been unusually silent lately. Figuring out Serdra’s feelings was very difficult, both because of how little they showed on the outside and because of Katja’s doubts that they were even comparable to other peoples’.
    Just what is it like to reach that age? she thought yet again and observed her mentor as she stared out at the sea without really seeing it. To live with violence and constant danger? Knowing she could die tomorrow or in a hundred and thirty-three years more? Mustn’t it be like dangling in mid-air?
    They couldn’t discuss their matters around strangers, there was nothing to do on board the ship and the men generally weren’t chatty. So time crawled by and thoughts and worries had room to gnaw her until evening and until morning as the waves made sleep difficult.
    Maron had told Raon Jom that they wanted to land by the coastal village Gunevel, but they corrected him in the morning. They wanted to land north of it. Raon protested briefly, stating that there was nothing there, but it made little difference to him what became of them after leaving his ship. He changed course slightly with minor grumbling about indecisive people.
    The coast of the Golden Plain replaced the endless sea and Katja again felt the excitement of seeing a new place. She wanted to say something sarcastic about this particular plain being unusually uneven and forested, but she supposed it was difficult to come up with a name that described every corner of a country and the Golden Plain had expanded since the naming.
    It took the sailors some time to find a part of the coast they were willing to approach