Lady Meliara?" There was a tap outside the door, and Oria's mother, Julen,...

Lady Meliara?" There was a tap outside the door, and Oria's mother, Julen, lifted the tapestry. Oria and I both stared in surprise at the three long sticks she carried so carefully.
"More Fire Sticks?" I asked. "In midwinter?"
"Just found them outside the gate." Julen laid them down, looked from one of us to the other, and went out.
Oria grinned at me. "Maybe they're a present. You did save the Covenant last year, and the Hill Folk know it."
" didn't do it," I muttered. "All I did was make mistakes."
Oria crossed her arms. "Not mistakes. Misunderstandings. Those, at least, can be fixed. Which is all the more reason to go to Court--"
"And what?" I asked sharply. "Get myself into trouble again?"
Oria stood silently, and suddenly I was aware of the social gulf between us, and I knew she was as well. It happened like that sometimes. We'd be working side by side, cleaning or scraping or carrying, and then a liveried equerry would dash up the road with a letter, and suddenly I was the countess and she the servant who waited respectfully for me to read my letter and discuss it or not as I saw fit.
"I'm sorry," I said immediately, stuffing the Marquise's letter into the pocket of my faded, worn old gown. "You know how I feel about Court, even if Bran has changed his mind."
"I promise not to jaw on about it again, but let me say it this once. You need to make your peace," Oria said quietly. "You left your brother and the Marquis without so much as a by-your-leave, and I think it's gnawing at you. Because you keep watching that road."
I felt my temper flare, but I didn't say anything because I knew she was right. Or half right. And I wasn't angry with I tried my best to dismiss my anger and force myself to smile. "Perhaps you may be right, and I'll write to Bran by and by. But here, listen to this!" And I picked up the book I'd been reading before the letter came. "This is one of the ones I got just before the snows closed the roads: 'And in several places throughout the world there are caves with ancient paintings and Iyon Daiyin glyphs.'" I looked up from the book. "Doesn't that make you want to jump on the back of the nearest horse and ride and ride until you find these places?"
Oria shuddered. "Not me. I like it fine right here at home."
"Use your imagination!" I read on. "'Some of the caves depict constellations never seen in our skies--'" I stopped when we heard the pealing of bells. Not the melodic pattern of the time changes, but the clang of warning bells at the guardhouse just down the road.
"Someone's coming!" I exclaimed.
Oria nodded, brows arched above her fine, dark eyes. "And the Hill Folk saw them." She pointed at the Fire Sticks.
"'Them?'" I repeated, then glanced at the Fire Sticks and nodded. "Means a crowd, true enough."
Julen reappeared then, and tapped at the door. "Countess, I believe we have company on the road."
She looked in, and I said, "I hadn't expected anyone." Then my heart thumped, and I added, "It could be the fine weather has melted the snows down-mountain--d'you think it might be Branaric at last? I don't see how it could be anyone else!"
"Branaric needs three Fire Sticks?" Oria asked.
"Maybe he's brought lots of servants?" I suggested doubtfully. "Perhaps his half year at Court has given him elaborate tastes, ones that only a lot of servants can see to. Or he's hired artisans from the capital to help forward our work on the castle. I hope it's artisans," I added.
"Either way, we'll be wanted to find space for these newcomers," Julen said to her daughter. She picked up the Fire Sticks again and looked over her shoulder at me. "You ought to put on one of those gowns of your mother's that we remade, my lady."
"For my brother?" I laughed, pulling my blanket closer about me as we slipped out of my room. "I don't need to impress him, even if he has gotten used to Court ways!