gates.
Now for myself
. I needed enough time for Will to reach the gates. I ran to a small brown bird under the blasted tree, then paused. It wouldn’t work. They’d see the wings.
They’d
hear
the wings.
I looked back at the wall, toward the cannons. I realized I didn’t want the cannons to find the giants: the young one whotalked about the awful duke but didn’t mind my taunts; the bearded one who saved my life. I didn’t want them hurt. I just didn’t want them here in Reggen.
Perhaps I could arrange it so they—and the army that followed them—wouldn’t return.
“You may return to the duke after I make my throw,” I said. “I will let you live since you spared the boy. But you will know, after I throw this stone, that we can match you strength for strength.”
I saw frantic activity on the walls; soldiers swarmed around two cannons. I plucked up the bird and almost whispered an apology until I remembered the giants’ hearing. The poor thing quivered in my hands and I stroked its head with my thumb. I willed it courage and safety—and most of all, flight.
I looked behind me and saw a soldier move to light a cannon.
“Now,” I shouted, “listen and tell me if this stone
ever
falls back to earth!”
I tossed the bird into the air, far enough that it would fly when I threw it, but not hard enough to hurt it. I saw its wings spread, brown and gray against sun-bleached sky, as the cannon roar echoed around us.
The giants ducked away from the cannon noise but didn’t run.
“I saw it,” said the young one, pride in his voice. “It should fall soon.”
But my bird rose higher and higher. After a minute, it stillhadn’t returned. The giants muttered to each other in their own language.
“It hasn’t fallen, has it?” I shouted.
Another warning shot flew past. The giants grimaced at the cannon’s roar.
“Go back to your duke,” I shouted. “I’ll tell my people to stop their fire.”
The young one nodded. “You are a greater warrior than we expected.”
I laughed, arms wrapped around my belly, as if I’d never heard a finer joke. I needed them to believe me. I needed them to never return. “
Warrior?
I am no warrior! Tell your duke I am a tailor. You will encounter men far fiercer than me if you attack this city.”
Chapter 10
I watched the giants stride away down the road, trembling as the terror I’d ignored roared over me. I could taste the dust from the shattered boulders when I licked my lips.
But I wouldn’t turn away from the retreating giants. They might return. And I feared I’d forget what I’d seen: giants too graceful to be monsters, with voices like thunder, legs like trees, and hands that could snap a boy’s leg.
Will
.
I ran unsteadily toward the gate. The day felt slow around me, as if the sunlight were honey thick and I could not push through it. The bridge over the Kriva had never seemed so long.
Now that the giants were gone, people poured out of the gates and onto the bridge. They rushed toward me, toward the lad who had faced the giants. The lad. I stumbled midstride, trying to make sure I ran like a man and not a frantic girl.
The wave of people engulfed me well before I reached the gates. Some of the crowd shook their fists and shouted threats at the horizon, where the giants had disappeared from sight. Others pounded me on the back or cheered.
“Brave lad!”
“You did just what I’d have done! Pity I didn’t get here in time to help.…”
“They know what Reggen is made of now!”
Where had these people been when Will dragged his shattered foot across the bridge? And where was Will? I elbowed through the crowd, trying to find the end of it.
I couldn’t.
The news must have spread quickly. The farther into the crowd I pressed, the more the story of my encounter with the giants changed. I had not traveled ten paces before I heard people clamoring about an actual fight, how a lad faced two giants with his bare hands. A minute later, I had
Now for myself
. I needed enough time for Will to reach the gates. I ran to a small brown bird under the blasted tree, then paused. It wouldn’t work. They’d see the wings.
They’d
hear
the wings.
I looked back at the wall, toward the cannons. I realized I didn’t want the cannons to find the giants: the young one whotalked about the awful duke but didn’t mind my taunts; the bearded one who saved my life. I didn’t want them hurt. I just didn’t want them here in Reggen.
Perhaps I could arrange it so they—and the army that followed them—wouldn’t return.
“You may return to the duke after I make my throw,” I said. “I will let you live since you spared the boy. But you will know, after I throw this stone, that we can match you strength for strength.”
I saw frantic activity on the walls; soldiers swarmed around two cannons. I plucked up the bird and almost whispered an apology until I remembered the giants’ hearing. The poor thing quivered in my hands and I stroked its head with my thumb. I willed it courage and safety—and most of all, flight.
I looked behind me and saw a soldier move to light a cannon.
“Now,” I shouted, “listen and tell me if this stone
ever
falls back to earth!”
I tossed the bird into the air, far enough that it would fly when I threw it, but not hard enough to hurt it. I saw its wings spread, brown and gray against sun-bleached sky, as the cannon roar echoed around us.
The giants ducked away from the cannon noise but didn’t run.
“I saw it,” said the young one, pride in his voice. “It should fall soon.”
But my bird rose higher and higher. After a minute, it stillhadn’t returned. The giants muttered to each other in their own language.
“It hasn’t fallen, has it?” I shouted.
Another warning shot flew past. The giants grimaced at the cannon’s roar.
“Go back to your duke,” I shouted. “I’ll tell my people to stop their fire.”
The young one nodded. “You are a greater warrior than we expected.”
I laughed, arms wrapped around my belly, as if I’d never heard a finer joke. I needed them to believe me. I needed them to never return. “
Warrior?
I am no warrior! Tell your duke I am a tailor. You will encounter men far fiercer than me if you attack this city.”
Chapter 10
I watched the giants stride away down the road, trembling as the terror I’d ignored roared over me. I could taste the dust from the shattered boulders when I licked my lips.
But I wouldn’t turn away from the retreating giants. They might return. And I feared I’d forget what I’d seen: giants too graceful to be monsters, with voices like thunder, legs like trees, and hands that could snap a boy’s leg.
Will
.
I ran unsteadily toward the gate. The day felt slow around me, as if the sunlight were honey thick and I could not push through it. The bridge over the Kriva had never seemed so long.
Now that the giants were gone, people poured out of the gates and onto the bridge. They rushed toward me, toward the lad who had faced the giants. The lad. I stumbled midstride, trying to make sure I ran like a man and not a frantic girl.
The wave of people engulfed me well before I reached the gates. Some of the crowd shook their fists and shouted threats at the horizon, where the giants had disappeared from sight. Others pounded me on the back or cheered.
“Brave lad!”
“You did just what I’d have done! Pity I didn’t get here in time to help.…”
“They know what Reggen is made of now!”
Where had these people been when Will dragged his shattered foot across the bridge? And where was Will? I elbowed through the crowd, trying to find the end of it.
I couldn’t.
The news must have spread quickly. The farther into the crowd I pressed, the more the story of my encounter with the giants changed. I had not traveled ten paces before I heard people clamoring about an actual fight, how a lad faced two giants with his bare hands. A minute later, I had
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