Off Center (The Lament) (31 page)

She
shuddered a little bit, remembering what her arm had felt like, being numb. Dead
to the world. Was that what it was like, not having a body? She didn't know, but
didn't want to find out either.

 "So,
we hide for a few weeks then get back to the ship?" She tried to sound strong
and like it was a real plan, not some half desperate thing that she wasn't certain
hadn't come from insanity.

Clark
gave her a considering look and then nodded.

"Right.
That might change, and fast, but we can give it a shot. One way or another, this
is going to be over soon. I can feel it. We're too close for it not to be. Either
we're going to stop them this time, or..."

She
knew the answer to that bit, even if the Guardian didn't say it out loud.

Either
they won, and soon, or the other side would. If they had part of the High Council,
it might well be that they'd already done it. If that was the case, the rest of
their plan was going to happen, sooner or later. In that case, Pran had to find
a way to get in on the other side herself. She might not fare well, if they were
going to be stealing bodies like they seemed to do, but it might be her only chance
to survive.

She
grinned, feeling like it was hopeless. That there was almost no chance for her at
all.

"Let's
get hidden and set up a camp then. I'm exhausted."

"Right,
let's."

They
rode for a while then, and set up a nice camp. They shared a little shelter, but
the weather wasn't nearly as cold here yet as it had been when Mara and she had
done the same thing, weeks before. It was a lower elevation, she thought. The hard
part was actually caring for the horses, and a lot of their time each day was spent
looking for things they could eat, and collecting them up. It was something to do,
until the time came for them to go back.

Pran
worked on songs, and tried to practice when the conditions were right, since she
still had to prove herself worthy of being the High Bard's Apprentice.

It
was almost shocking then, when they packed up ten days later, to head back.

"Remember,
we're supposed to be trying to pretend to be ourselves." Clark said, over and
over again, as if that was going to be lost on her.

She
got it.

They
were going to be playing themselves, in a show that, if she had it right, was the
most important one ever.

That
was what she was thinking when they got back into sight of The Lament.

That
this was really important, and that she was on the other side now.

The
hard part there was that, as scared as she was, Pran wasn't certain that she really
wasn't. If she wanted to survive, she knew one thing for certain. She had to be
with the winners.

For
the time being, she didn't think that was going to be the real people's side at
all.

Thinking
about that, she and Clark went into the ship, to pretend they weren't really themselves
anymore. The most frightening thing there, was that no one seemed to really notice
at all.

Thanks for
Reading

"Off
Center".

The
rest of The Lament trilogy will be coming in 2014. To find out more about what
books are coming out when, please go to: pspowerbooks.com

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