The Book of Athyra Read Online Free Page A

Pae cleaned the sleeping room and the loft.
    His work was done by the fourteenth hour of the morning, and everyone else’s within half an hour thereafter, so that shortly before noon theyhad a quick lunch of maize-bread and yellow pepper soup, after which they hitched Gleena and Ticky up to the wagon and set off for town. They always made the necessary stops in the same order, generally spiraling in toward Tem’s house where they would have the one bought meal of the week, along with ale for Mae, Pae, and, lately, Savn, and beetwater for Polyi while they listened to the farmers argue about whether the slight dry spell would mean lower yields and poorer crops, or would, in fact, tend to make the flax hardier in the long run. Those of Savn’s age would join in, listen, and occasionally make jokes calculated to make them appear clever to their elders or to those their own age of the desired sex, except for those who were apprenticed to trade, who would sit by themselves in a corner exchanging stories of what their Masters had put them through that week. Savn had his friends among this group.
    The first two stops (the livery stable for the feed supplements, and the yarner for fresh bolts of linen) went as usual—they bought the feed supplements and didn’t buy any linen, although Savn fingered a yarn-dyed pattern of sharply angled red and white lines against a dark green fabric, while Mae and Pae chatted with Threader about how His Lordship was staying in his manor house near Smallcliff, and Polyi looked bored. Savn knew without asking that the fabric would be too expensive to buy, and after a while they left, Mae complimenting Threader on the linen and saying they’d maybe buy something if His Lordship left them enough of the harvest.
    They skipped the ceramics shop, which they often did, though as usual they drove by; Savn wasn’t sure if it was from habit or just to wave at Pots, and he never thought to ask. By the time they pulled away from Hider’s place, where they got a piece of leather for Gleena’s girth-strap, which was wearing out, it was past the third hour after noon and they were in sight of both the dry goods store and Tem’s house.
    There was a large crowd outside Tem’s.
    Mae, who was driving, stopped the cart and frowned. “Should we see what it is?”
    “They seem to be gathered around a cart,” said Pae.
    Mae stared for a moment longer, then clicked the team closer.
    “There’s Master Wag,” said Polyi, glancing at Savn as if he would be able to provide an explanation.
    They got a little closer, finally stopping some twenty feet down the narrow street from the crowd and the cart. Savn and Polyi stood up and craned their necks.
    “It’s a dead man,” said Savn in an awed whisper.
    “He’s right,” said Pae.
    “Come along,” said Mae. “We don’t need to be here.”
    “But, Mae—” said Polyi.
    “Hush now,” said Pae. “Your mother is right. There’s nothing we can do for the poor fellow, anyway.”
    Polyi said, “Don’t you want to know—”
    “We’ll hear everything later, no doubt,” said Mae. “More than we want to or need to, I’m sure. Now we need to pick up some nails.”
    As they began to move, Master Wag’s eyes fell on them like a lance. “Wait a moment, Mae,” said Savn. “Master Wag—”
    “I see him,” said his mother, frowning. “He wants you to go to him.” She didn’t sound happy.
    Savn, for his part, felt both excited and nervous to suddenly discover himself the center of attention of everyone gathered in the street, which seemed to be nearly everyone who lived nearby.
    Master Wag did not, however, leave him time to feel much of anything. His deeply lined face was even more grim than usual, and his protruding jaw was clenching at regular intervals, which Savn had learned meant that he was concentrating. The Master said, “It is time you learned how to examine the remains of a dead man. Come along.”
    Savn swallowed and followed him to the