Read Online Glasswrights' Progress by Mindy L Klasky - Free Book Online

lionson to protect her other children. She had prepared them, in case she died in the night. Shea’s brood could survive without her.
    If the king’s men did not come and take them. If Crestman did not harm them.
    Shea had no choice.
    She would have to decide which road to take. She would have to decide when they should eat, when they should move, when they should lie low. So much would be frightening, and terrible, and necessary.
    Shea picked free the last knot, and then she helped the lion to his feet. She steadied him as the blood flowed back into his legs. “Wait a minute. Wait until you can feel your feet.”
    Ignoring her, Crestman bolted for the door. He stumbled on his blood-starved limbs, though, and she caught him before he fell. Her fingers were tight on his arm as she jerked him around to face her. “I’ll have none of that, lionboy! If we’re going to survive on the road, you’ll listen to me.” Shea swallowed hard and raised her chin. “You’ll do as I say.”
    Crestman stared at her for a long minute, and she read the emotions on his face as clearly as if they were stars in the sky. He wanted to speak out. He wanted to remind her that he was a lion, that she was only a sun. He wanted to put Shea in her place, a laborer, a worker. Not a thinker. Not a soldier.
    Shea stood her ground, though. She tightened her grip on the lionboy’s arm, her fingers pinching until she felt bone. At last, Crestman nodded, a single, taut bob of his head that told her he understood. He knew that things had changed.
    They disappeared into the forest as the Swan crested over the horizon.
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    Chapter 3
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    Rani stood on the deck of the ship, looking out at a shoreline that seemed a lifetime away. As the ship pitched forward, Rani was forced to grab for the railing to keep her balance. For the past three days, whenever the sailors had bothered to speak to her, it seemed that they commented on how smooth the ocean was. In fact, the wind had been still enough the previous day that the captain had been forced to employ his sweepers, teams of four men who walked giant, hinged oars back and forth across the deck, driving the boat forward through the water. The shuffle of the seamen’s feet had been drowned out by the songs they sang, stirring chanties like soldiers at their drink.
    Today, though, the wind was back, and the ship lurched up the coast with a renewed speed. Rani’s belly turned as the craft crashed down into yet another ocean trough. The salt smell of the ocean spray hung at the back of her throat, sharp and caustic.
    That morning, Mair – despite her broken arm – had forced Rani to gnaw on a slice of rough bread. Rani had given in after only a few minutes of cross argument. Despite the agony of being tossed on the ocean, she was hungry. She had even managed to keep her rebellious belly under control as she chewed the tough crust. Managed, that was, until Mair passed her a slice of ripe cheese. The creamy texture of the stuff made Rani’s skin crawl, and when the musky odor hit her nose she scrambled out of the tiny cabin, desperately climbing hand over hand for the deck and the railing and the open water that carried away her meager breakfast.
    Now, Rani stared into the freshening breeze and forced herself to take deep breaths. Seven days, Bashi had said. Seven days from Moren to Amanth, the capital of Amanthia far to the north. They had already been traveling for three – they were nearly halfway there.
    â€œFeeling any better?”
    Rani turned to see that Mair had crept up behind her. That was another problem with this cursed ship. It creaked so much, and the wind thumped against the sails so loudly that Rani could not hear anyone approach. “Not much,” Rani admitted. “I can’t understand why you aren’t as sick as I am.”
    â€œYou sound as if you’d like me to be.” Mair sounded exasperated, but