Winter Be My Shield
Page 56
‘I will. Be well, Cam.’
‘Spirit of Storm watch over you, Sirri.’
Sierra left him in the cover of the trees, dragging the awkward and unbalanced sled behind her as she descended into the valley. The one time she let herself look back she couldn’t see him at all.
She followed the sound of the axes. If she were really a wandering traveller living hand-to-mouth in the thin and hungry end of winter, she might be desperate enough not to care that the sound was as much a threat as it was an offer of safety. If she was desperate enough she would take the chance.
They must have seen her coming as she crossed the open valley, for they were waiting for her at the edge of the trees. The first she knew of them was a shout of warning in a strange-yet-familiar language and then a rapid bellow of orders as they fanned out from the trees to surround her with spears and bows. She recognised few words from their rapid babble but the meaning was clear enough. She let the sled-rope fall and dropped to her knees, raising her hands in surrender. A moment later they’d shoved her face down onto the snow while they bound her hands behind her back. She couldn’t have resisted if she’d wanted to. She was too busy trying to keep her power contained beneath her skin.
They kept her there with the snow melting and seeping into her clothes while they sorted through the gear on her sled and discarded it all as worthless. Between Kell and Rhia she’d learned just enough Akharian to tease some meaning from the conversation going on over her head: What do you reckon, sir? She looks like a young ’un under all those furs.
Ye Gods and demons, man, d’you think I’m going to stand around here in the cold waiting for you to get your end away while there’s a hot meal waiting for me back at the camp? I don’t care how desperate you are to get frostbite on your tackle, you can do it on your own cursed time. Get her on her feet.
One of the men hauled her up and shoved her towards the sound of the axes.
As she let them march her away Sierra heard Rasten’s voice drifting over the snow-covered hills.
I’ll be waiting for your call, Little Crow.
Acknowledgements
I owe a great many thanks to the following people. Simon, problem solver and brainstormer extraordinaire. My parents, Stephanie and Rod, Auntie Pip, Mike and Jan. Toby and Katie, for happily talking books at all hours and for demonstrating the combat scenes. Fiona McIntosh, for her unfailing support and encouragement of emerging writers. Special thanks to Jane, Janos and Kate, and to Nikki, who gave me encouragement when I needed it most.
About the Author
Jo Spurrier was born in 1980 and has a Bachelor of Science, but turned to writing because people tend to get upset when scientists make things up.
Her interests include knitting, spinning, cooking and research. She lives in Adelaide and spends a lot of time daydreaming about snow.
Copyright
HarperVoyager
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
First published in Australia in 2012
This edition published in 2012
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Jo Spurrier 2012
The right of Jo Spurrier to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:
Spurrier, Jo.
Winter be my shield / Jo Spurrier.
ISBN: 978 0 7322 9252 2 (pbk.)
ISBN: 978 0 7304 9289 4 (epub)
Spurrier, Jo. Children of the black sun trilogy 1.
A823.4
Cover design by Darren Holt, HarperCollins Design Studio
Cover images by shutterstock.com
Map by Jo Spurrier