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If Snowsdale had been a few more miles north…
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"Excuse me?" Daine Sarrasri asked a kindly looking innkeeper. "Is there anywhere I could find a job?" She seemed to have missed the fair people had always talked about.
The innkeeper smiled. "You've come to the right place. I need a new barmaid." Daine smiled in gratitude, even though she had wanted a job with animals. This would keep her in enough money to find one. "How old are you, girl?"
"Fifteen," Daine said, staring into the man's brown eyes. She had practiced the lie many times, until she could say it perfectly.
"Perfect. The pay is two copper nobles a day, and you sleep in the loft. Meals are in the kitchen." The innkeeper stuck out his hand. "My name is Christian Darrensra."
"Daine Sarrasri," she said, shaking Christian's hand.
"Well, Daine, I'm glad to have you on the team," Christian said.
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"We're going to lose," Baron George of Pirate's Swoop revealed to Ouna Chamtong. "We'd need a miracle to get even one person out alive."
"The children?" Ouna asked worriedly. "Can't we hide them?"
George rubbed his chin. "Roald knows the way to Legann, and Aly knows the passageways. It's a risk, though."
"If we don't risk it, we're killing them," Ouna hissed. "Take them below, now."
George passed the woman his spyglass and wearily started down the stone steps. He knew the children wouldn't make it to Legann, but at least they could try.
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A very pregnant seventeen-year-old Daine kneeled on the ground, tending to her vegetable garden. She loved her house, in a small town in Galla. It even had a white picket fence.
A man with light brown hair and green eyes came jogging up the path. Daine smiled as she slowly stood up, a hand on her belly. Her husband Caleb kissed his young wife hello before practically exploding his news.
"It's official! Carthak won the war, and he's giving the rule of Tortall to a Stormwing called Rikash Moonsword."
"Moonsword?" Daine crinkled her nose. "That's very pretty for a Stormwing. D'ya suppose Carthak will try to conquer more land?"
Caleb shook his head. "Not right away, at least." He smiled lovingly as he stroked her stomach. "How's the baby?"
"Kicking," Daine complained. "It must be almost as lively as you." Suddenly she beamed, her face lighting up. "I'm so happy. You and me, and our child. It'll be perfect."
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All because Snowsdale was a few more miles north…