CLARA
Someone was in Tahlia’s shop. She stared at the building, having stopped walking on her way to see Durran. To talk about their plan, not just to see him. Then movement had caught her eye, and an unfamiliar form had been turning the sign on Tahlia’s shop to open and walking through the aisles. She frowned at the sight. Who was that? And why were they in Tahlia’s shop?
Clara hadn’t heard from her friend in days. She had disappeared on the back of one of the Ashfather’s dragons and never returned. Planning with Durran had been distracting her, but the sight of someone else walking through those familiar aisles that should only be home to Tahlia set her nerves on edge, and she found herself walking toward the shop.
The bell Tahlia had set above the door jangled merrily when Clara step
