Notes

265 pages
map.
A companion novel to Dragonfly song and Swallow's dance.
Summary: For the first time in memory, the raiders don't return to the mainland when winter comes. We don't see them, but we hear the tales: the villages they've invaded, the farms they've taken. Their ships safely beached in isolated coves, waiting for spring and the sailing season: the warring season. When a raiders' ship appears off the coast after Clio's father leaves on his annual trading voyage, the women of the family set out to beseech the goddess's protection, and Clio stays behind to guard a sacred statuette. But she is soon torn between staying at her post or abandoning it to save her beloved horses from the raiders. After she makes her decision, her life hangs in the balance. She must act courageously and forge a new path if she is to save herself and the horses she risked her life for. Failure will mean, at best, being cast out of society and town life. At worst, it will mean death. (Publisher)