Chapter Four
Nanda had never imagined she might be retracing her steps to the enclave in the Bones so soon, but now she blessed that earlier venture. Her feet remembered the way, and moved the faster for it. The snow, lessening in impact now that it melted day by day, impeded her much less than before, and she arrived at the twist in the bone-white trees sooner than she had ventured to hope. The air was still, at so early an hour. All she heard was the occasional, soft drip of melted sleet or heavy dew falling from bough to earth, and the faint crunch of thinning ice beneath her own feet as she walked. Her breath misted in the still morning air.
She did not waste time on pleasantries. Announcing her presence in some subtle way, waiting for someone to answer her call, and open the way bet
