Jasek took an unconscious glance around, lowered her voice. “What it does, is it explodes. Like a nut in a fire, you know? But bigger, much bigger. They use it to mine, to move stumps, that kind of thing. And they figured out that if you light up this powder in a confined space with just one hole, it shoots out, see? And if you put a rock in that hole, the rock shoots out. So they’ve got these weapons they make out of rock, so they can shoot a boat right out of the water, if they want to. And if they’re lucky. You with me?”
Iskra, still focused on Rethow, and the concept that she might, indeed, be Retwhin, was bewildered, to say the least. Exploding nuts that sank boats. It was insane. She felt vaguely better. Perhaps the woman was merely rich and addled, and there was no danger at all. S
