he first hour. The ground does not move. E

t at dawn with my wool coat buttoned wrong and my shoes full of black sand. Nobody looked at me twice, which I took as a good sign until I realized it was because t

I kept my hands

window full of golden loaves, unable to move. In the sea, we eat kelp and fish

a large woman with flour up to h

ld out a seed pearl from my pur

ngers and went very quiet.

s mi

he door, then back at me. "You're from the coast folk. You've

s true, but it felt like

he counter. He was maybe fourteen, all knees and elbows, with a wool hat pulled down over cur

, you don't

arry her bag." He turned to me and winked, quite unsubtly. "Give her your s

counted out six copper coins and a loaf of bread, fresh and h

ward in front of me, grinni

dn't

Half this town can. You should practice." He stuck out a hand. "Tob. I work the

are wo

laugh, then realized I wasn't joking

f bread. It was the best thing I

could shift into a wolf at will. The strong ones ruled, and the strongest of all were called Alphas. They led the packs, and the packs served the

queen r

nds who you ask." He lowered his voice. "My granny says she was a dragon. That's why the

n," I sa

r singing that song." He nodded toward a wall at the end of the

already damp with snow. The top lin

NS FOR THE SEA THIEVES WHO STO

icker in the Hall of Lights for twenty years. Underneath the drawing, in smaller print, someone had written:

aid. My voice

s snatched by coast thieves. Nobody's seen it." Tob shrugged.

took it out under cover of my sleeve. The silver pearl at i

. And whoever took her had t

ep," I said. "Tonight. A

udest inn in the east, and the loudest place is always the best place

my head. The noise was extraordinary. A fiddle screeched in one corner. Someone had set fire to a tablecloth and was being c

ffed the air. "Salt," she murmured. "And somethi

ach tur

red, gripping my sleeve.

of me, and it was so hot and thick that

n in gray cloaks stood in the doorway, each with a silver pin shaped like a w

something that had never once needed to hurry. His hair was dark and cropped close. A pale scar ran from his

ard," someo

was quiet and level and it went through t

that morning on the beach, lifted its head again, a