Edge of Destiny Read Online Free PDF

conundrum.”
    “Once again,” Zojja said almost pridefully.
    A grin was fighting its way onto Eir’s face. “Hypothetically speaking—”
    “I love hypotheses!” Snaff broke in.
    “—if I were taking commissions, whose image would you want?”
    Snaff’s grin grew from Eir’s own. “My assistant’s, of course.”
    Eir looked at the petulant young asura and asked, “Why?”
    Snaff shrugged. “She’s got a good head on her shoulders. And that’s all I want. A head and shoulders.”
    “Well,” Eir said, “that’s a pretty small statue. I’m a pretty-big-statue maker. Maybe you’ll want to find a smaller sculptor.”
    “Except that her head needs to be five times taller,” Snaff said.
    Zojja shot him a look of annoyance.
    “I suppose that is a commission worthy of my talents, but it’ll cost you. Twenty silver.”
    “A bargain,” said Snaff, reaching beneath his greatcoat to grasp a bag on his belt. “This will be a bust in stone, of course.”
    “In wood, of course,” Eir clarified. “It’d be twenty gold for stone.”
    “Ah,” said Snaff, reaching to the other side of his belt. “Then gold it will be. Twenty, did you say?” He opened the bag, a pile of coins shimmering within the burlap.
    Eir’s eyes widened as she peered at the bag.
    She snagged her leather apron, mallet, and chisel belt and led the way outside into the courtyard. The others followed. She guided them along her stock of boles and boulders. “This one is granite, which is very hard. This one is marble—too expensive in this case. Here we have columnar basalt. This is limestone. . . .”
    “Basalt!” exclaimed Snaff. “That’s volcanic rock, yes?”
    “Yes,” said Eir, standing beside a large gray chunk. “And this one is particularly dense.”
    “Perfect for depicting my student!”
    Zojja hit him.
    Eir cocked an eyebrow at Zojja. “You should show more respect for your master.”
    Snaff rubbed the spot she had hit and smiled tightly. “Most asura assistants get browbeaten by their masters. With Zojja, it’s the other way around.”
    “Why do you put up with it?” Eir asked.
    Zojja glared. “I’m not sure if that’s your business, giantkin.”
    Eir stared back. “Your master might put up with your abuse, but I will not.”
    “Now, now,” said Snaff, chuckling lightly. “It’s quite flattering to have you two fight over me.”
    Both women gaped at him in amazement.
    “I think I understand,” said Eir to Zojja.
    Snaff just beamed. “Well, good then. All things are mended. Let’s get started. Zojja, why don’t you stand over there in the light? . . . Yes. Excellent. And, of course, Eir, you know where to stand. And I’ll step out of the way so that neither of you can hit me.”
    Eir stepped up before the block of basalt, drew a large chisel from her belt, set it to the stone, and lifted the mallet above her head. “Wolf, guide my hands.” She brought the mallet down, shearing off a chunk of stone.
    Basalt was a tricky medium, formed of cooled lava. The question was how it cooled—quickly beneath the ocean or slowly on land. Land was better. This particular stone had come from the throat of a long-dead volcano. It had cooled slowly, and it was amorphous, without striations. As Eir worked into the block, she sensed it had no hidden faults or fissures that could split her work. It was solid.
    As was her model. This annoying little creature had a solid will. She held her nose up and remained still, seeming to sense the importance of this moment.
    Eir worked the stone to bring forth Zojja’s features. That lemon-shaped head, those great eyes, her button nose, her small, determined mouth, her perky chin . . . but hardest of all were those ears—shaped like a rabbit’s, but swept back from her forehead so they seemed almost like small wings.
    “How’s it coming?” asked the apprentice.
    Eir wished she hadn’t moved. Her previous expression had been perfect—focused and slightly proud, willful