Read Thorns for Free Online Page B

continue,” he said, adjusting the collar of his shirt and darting a glance at Officer Raine. “There are other matters on the agenda today.”
    No one moved. The whole room seemed mesmerized as we waited for him to continue.
    “Our Aeralian friends have been with us for several months now, as you know, and I have just received word that an official representative will be joining us here.”
    The consulate Ann had spoken about?
    Murmurs swept the room, and the Mayor held up a hand to call for quiet. The sounds died away, and he bared his teeth in another smile. But his control was slipping, and I could read the fear in his eyes. Whether that fear was of us or the Farthers, I couldn’t tell.
    “This representative will be here to ensure our safety. This is for the good of our town, and for the good of the Frost.”
    The villagers around me shifted and whispered, and an undercurrent of ugly anger filled the air. But no one said anything.
    “Don’t,” Ann whispered to me sharply as I inched forward on the bench.
    “Laborers will construct a place for the Aeralian representative,” the Mayor continued. “They are dangerous, and not to be spoken with. They'll live and sleep in their own camps, and you are not to engage with them.”
    The silence was deafening. My blood had begun a slow, anxious boil in my veins.
    He paused. “Now, let's read the marks, shall we?”
     
    ~
     
    I almost ran from the building when we were dismissed. Fire burned beneath my skin and in my cheeks. I kept my mouth clamped shut, and I ducked my head down as I passed the Farthers standing guard at the door so they couldn’t see the expression in my eyes.
    Outside, the icy air fanned my cheeks. Pulling Ann behind me, I skirted the crowd and stepped into an alley between two shops.
    “We have to do something.” The memory of Edmond Dyer’s shriek was burned in my mind forever. I began to pace. “Why was he arrested? Did you overhear anything from your father?”
    “I don't know. I haven't heard even a whisper about this before now. And it doesn't make any sense.” She wiped her thumb along the edge of her eye, brushing away a gathering tear. “The Elders’ Circle is supposed to convene for any discipline against a villager, and they haven't. They usually come to see my father, or he meets them at the Assembly Hall. There has been no deliberation, I'm sure of it.”
    “Officer Raine ordered it, didn’t he?”
    She said nothing, but I could see by her expression that she thought I was right.
    My stomach churned. I could barely see straight. “There was no warning, no trial, not even any specification about his crimes... And what about the rest of the family? What will happen to them? Their home was confiscated!”
    She shook her head. “They'll be spread around to other families, I suppose. I should find Everiss.”
    “We have to do something,” I snapped.
    “What can we do?”
    Resolve burned in the pit of my stomach.
    I could do something.
    “Yes,” I said, grabbing her hands and squeezing them to make her focus. “Find Everiss and make sure she's all right. Let me know if there's anything I can do for them later. But right now, I need to go.”
    If I didn’t get out of town now, I’d do something I’d regret. I could feel it in my bones.
    “Lia,” Ann began.
    I met her eyes, and her face crumpled. She wrapped me in a quick, fierce hug.
    “I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you,” she whispered against my shoulder. “So be careful.”
    I gave her a squeeze in answer and then stepped back. “I'll see you soon.”
    She stood motionless, watching me as I hurried away.
     
     

FOUR
     
     
    I FELT AS though I was engulfed in a dark cloud and I couldn’t see a way out of it. I needed to get away and clear my head before I did something rash, something stupid. My boots kicked up a spray of snow as I rushed through the Cage for the Frost, and home. The wind blew in my eyes, stinging them and making them water. Or