![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.jaredmcdaris.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Satari-Triangle-300x225.png\")
Hali winced with each strike. The blows came more quickly than the day before, and those more quickly than the day before that, but still they were nothing, a child\u2019s first foray into the practice yards. She could have turned the blade away half-asleep. Squaring off against the Divine Commandrix was embarrassing, but it was nothing compared to how the Commandrix must be feeling.<\/p>\n
You would not know it to look at her, though. Her left arm was still in a plaster and sling, and her whole torso moved so stiffly Hali was certain she was bound up like a sleeping roll underneath her light green tunic and dark leather jack. In place of a conical helm, she wore a reinforced leather cap beneath the blue scarf she had wound about her head. Every once in a while, her small dark eyes seemed to glaze over for an instant. Hali knew she should be striking then, at those vulnerable moments. The Commandrix had ordered her to hold nothing back, but they both knew she was failing in that. Failure had been thick in the air lately.<\/p>\n
Hali was sweating, but only because they had been at it for two hours; that, and the damnable heat coming down from Supola Jengo. She wondered briefly if the barbarians had renamed that town too.<\/p>\n
Vargano was what they were now calling the shining city of Dalsaman. She grunted at the thought, and launched forward to throw a brutal strike against the Commandrix\u2019 left shoulder, but at the last second the Commandrix slid out of the way, kicked behind Hali\u2019s knee, and knocked her head with the blunted practice sword as she went down like a sack of wheat.<\/p>\n
\u201cGlad to see you\u2019ve finally woken up,\u201d the Commandrix said. \u201cI\u2019d offer a hand, but I\u2019m short one. Get up, Dame.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vintir laughed aloud at that. It was good to hear. The practice yard had been grim and silent for the past fortnight. No one wanted to watch Hali beat up a broken old woman, and the Commandrix refused to stop training, so the shallow pit that the Monosi had dug for sport against one another was given over to Ges Ra Ividar\u2019s perpetual humiliation.<\/p>\n
Hali smiled for the first time in a while. \u201cMaybe you\u2019d like to step in, Vintir,\u201d she called out.<\/p>\n
\u201cDearly would I,\u201d he answered, \u201cbut the Commandrix has been quite clear. I fear I must remain idle on this camp stool, dreaming of glory.\u201d<\/p>\n
She bit down on her smile and got to her feet. The Commandrix had insisted that Hali keep her shield, so her left arm had grown numb and weary over the course of the morning, but her legs were still spry enough to get her up without too great a cost.<\/p>\n
They stood for a moment, breathing. The air was fresh, and despite the heat from north of the bay, there was still the faintest chill of the coming winter in the air. Much of Hali\u2019s sweat had dried by now, so the occasional light breezes from the north caused her to shiver. Sometimes, she thought she tasted lilies on the air, but anything she might have smelled was smothered still in the miasma of smoke.<\/p>\n
They caught each other\u2019s eyes, and the Commandrix turned north, breathing heavily. \u201cI think that will do for the morning, Dame.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, Commandrix.\u201d She followed Ividar\u2019s gaze. \u201cWill we be searching the woods today?\u201d she asked. No one called them the Gazwood anymore.<\/p>\n
\u201cI suppose the time has come, yes.\u201d She was rolling her shoulders as she spoke. \u201cSir Vintir, take a company of twenty soldiers with you to scour the woods. Bring a wizard or two with you as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMay I join him, Commandrix?\u201d<\/p>\n
She continued staring at the woods for a long while. Hali was about to walk away when she finally said, \u201cYes. Sir Vintir, you have the command.\u201d It did not need saying, but she had said it anyway. The Divine Commandrix strode off without another word toward the southern approach.<\/p>\n
Hali turned and caught Vintir\u2019s eye, but there were about a dozen other soldiers milling about, and six were already moving into the pit to finally start their day\u2019s practice. Vintir shrugged and headed off to assemble his company.<\/p>\n
It was another half-hour before they were riding north. Hali was pleased to be back atop her palfrey. Her poor starving mount had died during the battle, and even though she knew it was inevitable, she still felt guilty. She had named him Bag-o-Bones. Now, his bones were feeding the crows.<\/p>\n
There had been far too many dead to bury. Sir Sanin had been in charge of cleanup, and he had ordered all the captured Monosi foot to dig graves for the dead Zaljan officers. Then he executed half the Monosi foot, and ordered the rest to dig graves for their own officers. Then he executed the rest. The Zaljan foot were burned at the southern approach, and the Monosi foot were tossed into the bay. The Commandrix looked livid when she had heard this, and even said aloud that Sir Sanin had behaved dishonorably. He shrugged at that and walked away. Sir Waldun had died of his wounds the day after the failed assault, and while no one would have called Sir Sanin a jovial man before that, he had changed noticeably since his companion\u2019s demise. Most notably, he had stopped wearing his eyepatch, allowing all and sundry to look into the gaping, puckered wound where once his other eye had been. Dame Tiir said the only time Sanin smiled these days was when someone blanched at his missing eye.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re looking for seven corpses,\u201d Sir Vintir reminded them as they rode into the dead forest. \u201cBe careful with their bodies, but also be sure to inspect them for stray magic.\u201d One of the wizards glared at that, but said nothing.<\/p>\n
Hali kept pace casually behind Vintir as the troops spread out. She noticed at once that none of the Khabarese had joined the search. Either Vintir had not conscripted any, or they were starting to reflect the isolated attitude of their one remaining paladin. The Wizard Mamun, the Commandrix\u2019 chosen favorite, wore a kind if weary expression as he glanced about. The other wizard was a remarkably young woman, no older than Hali, wearing robes of black and burgundy. Mamun\u2019s robes were all of peach and yellow, but he had taken to wearing a black cowl and stole over them since the battle.<\/p>\n
Hali waited until the soldiers had dispersed before approaching Vintir. She knew he could hear her ride up, but he still flinched slightly when she settled next to him. \u201cHas Rehfan been invited back into the Six?\u201d<\/p>\n
Vintir shrugged. \u201cI\u2019m not close in the Commandrix\u2019 counsel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMe neither.\u201d<\/p>\n
He hummed at that. \u201cDo you think there\u2019s any magic left in here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI imagine the Lesser Fire would have burnt up. No Greater Fire, or we\u2019d all be dead. I don\u2019t really know how the rest of it works.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMe neither.\u201d<\/p>\n
She grinned sheepishly at that. \u201cMy bedroll has been getting cold.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you still stuck with that woolen shift?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t always wear the shift,\u201d she said. He did not respond.<\/p>\n
They had not been alone together since the night before she had snuck into Dalsaman. She knew why, but it was still frustrating when he finally voiced his fears.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Commandrix knows about us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously.\u201d She glanced around, more for Vintir\u2019s comfort than her own. The Wizard Mamun was about fifty yards away, and everyone else was even farther. \u201cThis sort of thing happens all the time on campaigns. You know that as well as I.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many men have you had on campaign?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many women have you<\/em> had?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not always women,\u201d he hedged.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s hardly the point, is it? You\u2019re as married as I am, Vintir, don\u2019t get jealous of me now.\u201d She knew he was only trying to change the subject, but it still rankled.<\/p>\n \u201cAdultery means expulsion from the holy army.\u201d<\/p>\n Hali swallowed a great sigh. \u201cAccording to the Holy Solulan, sure. When was your first adultery, Vintir? Have you been expelled yet?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIvidar has a reason to expel us, Hali. And if she knows about us, she has the means to do it, too.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUs?\u201d she had to laugh at that. \u201cDid you lead a failed sortie that killed thousands of our own troops and let the enemy into the Commandrix\u2019 home city?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe doesn\u2019t care about that sort of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s still human, Vintir!\u201d He flinched at that and looked around, so she measured her voice again. \u201cNo matter how pious she is, and I\u2019m not entirely sure she is at all, she still has a woman\u2019s passions. She\u2019ll not magically forget the place where she was born, and she\u2019ll not magically forget that I was the one who led the sortie that left the damned gate open.\u201d Fools. Even now, she could not believe that the watch of Dalsaman had grown so lax. She had been a fool herself, to trust in strangers, fellows-in-arms though they were.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s my fault.\u201d<\/p>\n That one deserved a groan. \u201cYour fault? Your humility is outmatched only by your ego, Vintir. Truly.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m the reason that\u2026\u201d He was a grown man, nearly as old as Ividar herself, and still he would not say it.<\/p>\n Her laugh at that was full and from the belly. \u201cOh? Sir Vintir, is your vigor so great that you left me unable to do my duty?\u201d<\/p>\n He was not amused. \u201cYou hadn\u2019t slept in two full days. It\u2019s no wonder. That\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat someone else left the gate open?\u201d she finished sharply. \u201cI led the sortie, Vintir. I didn\u2019t wait at the tail like some camp follower to close up shop behind us. I am a paladin, just like you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cStill\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cStill what? If only I hadn\u2019t submitted to your potent charms, I would have been rested enough to tell the gateman to do his one job? What power is it you think you have over me? You think I\u2019m unable to say No to you, Vintir?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEmotions can overwhelm our reason.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEmotion?\u201d She laughed so loud, she felt the eyes falling on her. \u201cThe only emotion here is your love of guilt, Vintir. It\u2019s an ague. It\u2019s a fever. Don\u2019t smear it on me and call it Emotion<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n His face contracted in a way she had never seen before. \u201cYou\u2019re telling me you feel no guilt?\u201d<\/p>\n Her heart thudded once at that, but only once. \u201cNot on account of you,\u201d she answered, so evenly she might have been the Commandrix speaking.<\/p>\n Vintir heeled his palfrey and rode off.<\/p>\n It was a greater reaction than it seemed. Dead branches were all over, the entire forest floor was ash. Even a light cantor was inviting a broken leg, and Vintir summoned a glow cloud behind him as he rode off.<\/p>\n \u201cAre you well, Dame?\u201d The Wizard Mamun was riding up to her, gingerly upon his battered old mare. Even now his eyes seemed to smile, though the rest of his face was dour.<\/p>\n Hali snorted and looked away. \u201cDid you know them?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n \u201cNone of them well,\u201d he said, casting his eyes about the wood. \u201cAlmira over there was an apprentice of mine. She still is, according to her,\u201d he smirked. \u201cBeylan Casid and I share a sister-by-marriage, but he too survived the flames. He is still tending to the wounded.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBeylan? And he\u2019s a wizard?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnyone with the time and the will can become a wizard, Dame Hali.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the wealth.\u201d<\/p>\n He chuckled at that. \u201cYes, well. Wealth buys time, ask any peasant, if they have time enough to answer.\u201d His laughter died quickly as he looked about. \u201cNever enough, though, sadly.\u201d<\/p>\n Vintir\u2019s cloud of ash was slowly settling back to the ground. If she half-closed her eyes, it looked a little like the snows of a Khabarese Autumn. \u201cSeven wizards is nothing to mourn,\u201d she said suddenly, not sharp but blunt. \u201cWe lost thousands of foot. Thousands of peasants.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes,\u201d he nodded at once. If she had offended him, he disguised it incredibly. \u201cI know I should grieve for all of them equally, but I confess a certain kinship even with these seven strangers. These seven kindred-in-study. Death by fire is a hard, horrible way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n She eyed him with suspicion. \u201cYou speak from experience?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cObservation. Any wizard knows it to be true. Not personally, of course,\u201d he added, and the specter of his chuckle returned to his voice, \u201cbut most wizards study in cities or in the mines, and we form little academic communities. And every such community has its fools, its braggarts and its braves. One of them, sometimes more, will try their hand at Fool\u2019s Fire.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPower, fame\u2026\u201d he shrugged. \u201cThere are six magics, and we have not scratched the surface of their secrets. Even Lesser Fire, the darling that gains us so much attention and praise and contributions from beylans and prefects, and even the Khan himself, even Lesser Fire has not revealed a fraction of its mysteries to us, I think.\u201d He sniffed. \u201cYet all the same, wizarding is a long, trying process, with few revelations and less glory. Many are those who dreamt of being warlords or, failing that, powerful sorcerers who might turn the tides of time. It takes short years for some of us to start looking for quicker roads to notoriety. It should not surprise you that Greater Fire, Fool\u2019s Fire, remains the least researched and most mysterious of the six magics.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo they think they\u2019ll discover some new use for it, before they blow themselves up?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThemselves, yes, and often many others, Satar forgive. The Fire Mine has had more collapses than all the others put together, and not because of poor mining practices.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s had more rebellions too.\u201d She would know. She had first met Vintir putting down such a rebellion, eight years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cI know,\u201d said the old man. \u201cThe Fire Mine makes more widows, widowers, and orphans than almost anything else. Almost,\u201d he repeated, looking around the wood again.<\/p>\n A flush crept into Hali\u2019s face. \u201cWhy?\u201d she almost spat. \u201cWhy would they do that?\u201d She felt a fool for how obvious it seemed now. She had not been to the Fire Mine in years, but she could see the dirty, deranged faces she had battered into submission. In her memory, they all looked like her brother Jivril. In truth, they were faces that, but for a once-noble name, might have been her own. \u201cHow could they be so reckless?\u201d she demanded of the wizard. \u201cSo selfish!?\u201d<\/p>\n Mamun sighed, forcefully, and gestured at the dead trees around them. \u201cWho can say, why powerful people do the things they do? We can ask ourselves why King Cenedras felt the need to murder so many of our citizens, to steal our towns and the shining city of Dalsaman. Why did he need to sacrifice so many of his own people? For what gain?\u201d He sniffled, hesitating before he continued. \u201cWe as well might ask why the Khan saw fit to sacrifice so many of his own people to retake the city.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat else could he do? Should he have just let the barbarians keep it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d he sighed, disappointment heavy in his voice. \u201cI have spent many years studying, yet I\u2019ve yielded few answers. I know how to dig certain rocks out of the ground, and I know how to make them perform a few tricks. But I can\u2019t tell you why Cenedras did what he did.\u201d He hummed absently. \u201cYou know, the name \u2018wizard\u2019 actually means \u2018wielder of power.\u2019 But then again, in a way, so does Khan. Prefect. Beylan. Dame.\u201d He looked at her. \u201cWhat are titles? Perhaps knowing what to do is the real secret, the thing that defines powerful people.\u201d<\/p>\n She stared at him, trying not to goggle. \u201cDo you really think so?\u201d<\/p>\n He laughed again, openly and almost lightly. \u201cReally? No. I\u2019m not sure I really think anything. I\u2019m just distracting myself. This not the first time I have searched for the body of a burnt wizard. Thank you for providing such a distraction.\u201d<\/p>\n She smiled at him, though her eyes crinkled more in apology. \u201cHas the Commandrix taken Rehfan back?\u201d she asked suddenly. \u201cIn her Six, I mean?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think not,\u201d he said mildly. \u201cShe uh. She has not\u2026 dismissed you, has she?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, no.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGood,\u201d he nodded. \u201cI counseled her to keep you on.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe,\u201d her voice caught in her throat for a moment. \u201cShe was going to dismiss me?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe considered it,\u201d he said lightly.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not a gateman,\u201d she countered. \u201cNo one would expect a paladin to mind the gate while a charge went on without her.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhich is precisely what I told the Commandrix.\u201d He smiled flatly. \u201cShe said the gatemen was your responsibility. I told her you were hers.\u201d<\/p>\n Hali grew so tense at that, her horse whickered and stopped for a moment. \u201cHow did she take that?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n The wizard tugged his mare to a stop. \u201cThe Commandrix is a very stoic woman, as I\u2019m sure you know. Yet all the same, her gaze can be terrifying.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow\u2026 What did she say to you?\u201d<\/p>\n He started his mare again. \u201cShe asked me to join her Six.\u201d<\/p>\n Hali stared dumbfounded for several seconds before nudging her mount forth. \u201cYou? But you\u2019re not\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not a strictly<\/em> military position,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery beylan has a Six, every prefect, the Khan himself. Some of the greatest Sixes in history were primarily thinkers, preachers, even crafters.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, but a Commandrix\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCould do with some counsel less like the voice in her own head,\u201d Mamun interrupted. \u201cOr so says Divine Commandrix Ges Ra Ividar.\u201d<\/p>\n They rode in silence for several minutes, until the wizard\u2019s horse began to snort and paw the ground and would go no farther. Mamun sniffed the air and sighed. \u201cAlas,\u201d he said, \u201cI fear we are in luck.\u201d<\/p>\n He dismounted and began to pick through a barrier of black, broken branches. Hali slipped off her mount and tied the two beasts to a heavy branch before helping him.<\/p>\n The body they found was unrecognizable. It was a skeleton in cracked, black wrapping that was tearing and flaking away. Whatever clothing they had worn was completely gone. The empty sockets stared upward, and its mouth hung wide in a wordless, voiceless ecstasy.<\/p>\n They stared in silence for long minutes.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t see any pouches or\u2026 anything we could search for magic.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis was no wizard,\u201d Mamun sighed. He pointed to a spot beneath a crossway of dead branches, underneath way a burnt and blackened spearpoint. \u201cHe wore no armor, it would have survived the fire. This was a Monosi footman. He must have helped to set the fire then become cut off from his escape somehow.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGood,\u201d she said, immediately. \u201cThat\u2019ll please Sanin.\u201d The image of his one-eyed face, grim and gaunt and ghast from the winter airs, floated before her eyes, yet even it melted into Jivril\u2019s.<\/p>\n The wizard knelt down by the wrecked remains of the spearman. \u201cOhh, I\u2019m not sure anything would please Sir Sanin at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n Hali shook her head whilst no one could see her. \u201cHe hasn\u2019t been the same since Waldun died.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo. They had often quested together. They were very close.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWere they\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think so.\u201d He stood again. \u201cI could not say. It is not exactly frowned upon in Khabar, for men to wed or simply love one another, but it is\u2026 less encouraged, say, than in Zalja.\u201d He glanced about, as though there were Khabarese nearby that might hear him. \u201cKhabar is a harsh, narrow place. It can breed harsh, narrow people. Sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut they left Khabar.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor this,\u201d he nodded, looked directly at her. \u201cIt is not my habit to pry into the personal lives of my neighbors.\u201d He looked another minute, then looked back down at the corpse. \u201cStill, a couple need not love each other in only one way, and even love need not exist for two people to comfort one another. I don\u2019t know how Sir Sanin and Sir Waldun felt about one another, but I am certain they were a comfort to one another.\u201d He looked upward, through the bare branches, into the stark grey sky. \u201cNow that comfort is gone from this world.\u201d<\/p>\n They left the body where they found it. Sanin would only toss it in the bay, reigniting the Commandrix\u2019 wrath. All seven wizards were found, though none by them, and none had any stray magic. Vintir worried briefly that a Monosi soldier might have picked through the bodies late some night, but Mamun called it unlikely. \u201cThey do not seem to have any understanding of our magics,\u201d he had said. \u201cNor we of theirs, I suppose.\u201d<\/p>\n It was nearing evening when the bodies had been recovered. The wizards buried the bodies themselves, placing a small white crystal of Lesser Earth on each before covering them with dirt. \u201cIn a few days,\u201d said Mamun, \u201cthese plots will bring forth beautiful flowers. Lilacs, farimoths, jonquils. We shall see.\u201d Vintir had stood beside her as they watched them bury the bodies. She had held his hand.<\/p>\n The sun was a golden memory by the time Hali reached the Commandrix\u2019 tent and was nodded inside.<\/p>\n \u201cDame Hali,\u201d she said by way of greeting. She was sitting on a camp chair. One of her maidservants, Narsa she thought, was massaging her shoulders. The wizard Almira was inspecting her plaster and sling. After her eyes adjusted to the braziers, Hali saw that the maidservant was rubbing a white substance into the Commandrix\u2019 shoulders.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is that substance?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n \u201cGreater Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGreater? Isn\u2019t that for healing bones and hardening armor?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t get me started,\u201d the wizard drawled. The Commandrix gave her a look, seemingly empty, but it cowed her all the same.<\/p>\n \u201cMy shoulders need to be stronger. What is the matter, Dame?\u201d<\/p>\n She felt a fool even as she did it, but she moved forward and knelt before Ividar. \u201cThe north gate was my fault. I\u2019m sorry, Commandrix.\u201d<\/p>\n Her face stayed wooden as ever. \u201cMamun seems to think the gateman was to blame.\u201d<\/p>\n Was<\/em>, she said. The gateman had stayed within the city walls. He was likely the first to be killed by the barbarians riding in. \u201cHe is at fault,\u201d she agreed. \u201cBut so am I.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a lot of fault, it seems to me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot enough.\u201d<\/p>\n The Commandrix stared down at her. Hali looked at the ground. It was several long seconds before she looked back up and met her hard, even gaze. \u201cIt never is,\u201d she said, finally.<\/p>\n From her knees, Hali drew her sword and set it at the Commandrix\u2019 feet. \u201cThis is the sword of the watch. It should go to\u2026 to whoever holds the watch now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt should.\u201d<\/p>\n Hali sighed in frustration. \u201cWhat do\u2026 what should I do, Commandrix?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCan you return that sword?\u201d<\/p>\n She knelt, staring down at the sword. \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd if you could?\u201d<\/p>\n She shook her head. \u201cThen nothing. They\u2019d still be dead.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey would.\u201d She sat, and waited. Seconds stretched into minutes before Hali looked up at her again. \u201cCarry that with you,\u201d she said at last. \u201cIt will always be there. Always. Don\u2019t pretend it isn\u2019t. That is for children. Carry it with you.\u201d<\/p>\n Hali walked slowly from the tent. Night had fallen, and the sword of the watch weighed at her side like lead. Her feet dragged as she went, but still they eventually took her to the tent. She bent down, opened the flap, and stepped inside.<\/p>\n \u201cVintir,\u201d she said, as the flap closed behind her.<\/p>\n CHAPTER NINE><\/a><\/p>\n <CHAPTER SEVEN<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hali winced with each strike. The blows came more quickly than the day before, and those more quickly than the day before that, but still they were nothing, a child\u2019s first foray into the practice yards. She could have turned … Continue reading