this time," Mother Fern pointed to the shovel and the canvas bags waiting by the door. Toff would have preferred cleaning the dusty pottery shed to going out and digging for clay. Either way, it was a dirty job. Toff hefted the shovel over his shoulder, lifted the two canvas bags and trudged out of the shed toward the old streambed to look for more clay.
Luck was not with Toff that afternoon—everything he found was filled with rootlets and bits of rock and gravel. The grayish, slick clay was the width of a hand or two beneath the topsoil and with the multitude of plants growing above it, it was guaranteed to be filled with roots. Toff tried to pull the roots out of the clay in one piece, but they were small and fragile, breaking off every time.
A large patch of poison leaves grew nearby, too, which he was trying to avoid. As luck would have it, the better clay was beneath those poison leaves. Toff carefully shoved the edge of his square spade beneath the plants and tossed them aside, once he'd scooped them up. He had no desire to get any part of those leaves on exposed skin—the rash could be debilitating.
Once the layer of topsoil with the leaves and vines was cleared away, Toff turned to digging up the clay. Briefly, he worried over touching the roots to get them out of the clay, but he had to put that out of his mind and get to work. Mother Fern would be waiting.
Chapter 4
"I know you two have been fretting over this, so I brought you in to hear the decision." The Queen had invited both her sons to the Inner Circle meeting. Ry and Tory had only gotten to attend a handful of other meetings, none of which dealt with anything as serious as this. The decision on where to send Haldis and Sark would be revealed to them tonight.
Nearly all the Uncles were coming, including Ry and Tory's fathers. Only Uncle Norian, Uncle Thurlow and Kifirin were missing. Tory sat beside Ry on one of the sofas in the Queen's Library. The library was spacious, with row upon row of books of all kinds, plus the more modern vids and other forms of storage. Rich rugs covered blue-gray marble floors, veined with gold and silver.
Artwork was scattered across the library's walls; some by artists long dead and most of it worth fortunes. The library was a good place to spend a rainy afternoon, as long as an Inner Circle meeting wasn't being held there. Uncle Drake and Uncle Drew had come in with their mother, and the two boys followed. Drew had an arm around the Queen until the others arrived.
"Young ones," Uncle Gavin spared the boys a rare smile as he settled in a chair nearby. Uncle Rigo walked in right behind Gavin and sat in a chair next to him. Uncle Rigo ran a spy network for the Queen. Ry and Tory weren't supposed to know that, but they did.
Uncle Aryn taught history at the University in Lissia and sometimes ran Council meetings with Aurelius. Uncle Winkler gave the boys a wolfish grin as he settled on the opposite side of Gavin and Rigo. Uncle Tony sat beside Uncle Winkler, Uncle Roff and Uncle Shadow came in and then Uncle Reemagar and Uncle Connegar, the Larentii, folded in.
Uncle Reemagar was short for a Larentii—barely eight feet tall. Uncle Connegar, though, was nine and a half feet tall. His blue skin was a shade lighter than Reemagar's, and his hair was a lighter blond, too—almost the color of wheat. The Larentii stood for the meeting. Uncle Karzac arrived and then Gardevik and Erland, the boys' fathers, arrived last.
"Mom's pacing," Tory jerked his head toward their mother, who was walking back and forth in front of all of them, her arms held tightly around her.
"She doesn't like this," Ry muttered.
"Keep your voice down, son," Erland scooted Ry over so he could sit. Garde sat beside Tory.
"The Council wants to send those boys to Evensun," Queen Lissa didn't preface her statement with any words that might soften the blow.
"I thought you'd have the final say," Tory spoke up. Garde put an arm around his
Luck was not with Toff that afternoon—everything he found was filled with rootlets and bits of rock and gravel. The grayish, slick clay was the width of a hand or two beneath the topsoil and with the multitude of plants growing above it, it was guaranteed to be filled with roots. Toff tried to pull the roots out of the clay in one piece, but they were small and fragile, breaking off every time.
A large patch of poison leaves grew nearby, too, which he was trying to avoid. As luck would have it, the better clay was beneath those poison leaves. Toff carefully shoved the edge of his square spade beneath the plants and tossed them aside, once he'd scooped them up. He had no desire to get any part of those leaves on exposed skin—the rash could be debilitating.
Once the layer of topsoil with the leaves and vines was cleared away, Toff turned to digging up the clay. Briefly, he worried over touching the roots to get them out of the clay, but he had to put that out of his mind and get to work. Mother Fern would be waiting.
Chapter 4
"I know you two have been fretting over this, so I brought you in to hear the decision." The Queen had invited both her sons to the Inner Circle meeting. Ry and Tory had only gotten to attend a handful of other meetings, none of which dealt with anything as serious as this. The decision on where to send Haldis and Sark would be revealed to them tonight.
Nearly all the Uncles were coming, including Ry and Tory's fathers. Only Uncle Norian, Uncle Thurlow and Kifirin were missing. Tory sat beside Ry on one of the sofas in the Queen's Library. The library was spacious, with row upon row of books of all kinds, plus the more modern vids and other forms of storage. Rich rugs covered blue-gray marble floors, veined with gold and silver.
Artwork was scattered across the library's walls; some by artists long dead and most of it worth fortunes. The library was a good place to spend a rainy afternoon, as long as an Inner Circle meeting wasn't being held there. Uncle Drake and Uncle Drew had come in with their mother, and the two boys followed. Drew had an arm around the Queen until the others arrived.
"Young ones," Uncle Gavin spared the boys a rare smile as he settled in a chair nearby. Uncle Rigo walked in right behind Gavin and sat in a chair next to him. Uncle Rigo ran a spy network for the Queen. Ry and Tory weren't supposed to know that, but they did.
Uncle Aryn taught history at the University in Lissia and sometimes ran Council meetings with Aurelius. Uncle Winkler gave the boys a wolfish grin as he settled on the opposite side of Gavin and Rigo. Uncle Tony sat beside Uncle Winkler, Uncle Roff and Uncle Shadow came in and then Uncle Reemagar and Uncle Connegar, the Larentii, folded in.
Uncle Reemagar was short for a Larentii—barely eight feet tall. Uncle Connegar, though, was nine and a half feet tall. His blue skin was a shade lighter than Reemagar's, and his hair was a lighter blond, too—almost the color of wheat. The Larentii stood for the meeting. Uncle Karzac arrived and then Gardevik and Erland, the boys' fathers, arrived last.
"Mom's pacing," Tory jerked his head toward their mother, who was walking back and forth in front of all of them, her arms held tightly around her.
"She doesn't like this," Ry muttered.
"Keep your voice down, son," Erland scooted Ry over so he could sit. Garde sat beside Tory.
"The Council wants to send those boys to Evensun," Queen Lissa didn't preface her statement with any words that might soften the blow.
"I thought you'd have the final say," Tory spoke up. Garde put an arm around his
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