The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

“I suppose I was sleeping,” Casteel replied, and I rolled
my eyes.
The boy stared at him in disbelief, but the look quickly
turned to wonder as Casteel withdrew his hand from his
cloak, dropping several coins atop the stack of papers. The
child’s little eyes widened.
“Next time, try looking both ways before running out
into the street,” Casteel said, stepping around the kid.
“Thank you!” the little boy yelled and then took off.
“Just so you know,” Kieran drawled a few seconds later,
“he did not look both ways.”
“Of course, not,” Casteel replied, walking so his body
was between mine and the street.
“What do you think caused the quake?” I asked as we
moved deeper into the city, cutting down an alley
overflowing with trash. I tried not to breathe.
“I really don’t know.” Casteel glanced at me. “I’ve never
heard of a quake that extended from here to Carsodonia.”
“Well, if the gods were awake and had to smell this
alley,” Kieran began, “I understand why they’d make the
ground shake.”
“It’s not all like this,” I reminded them. “The people who
live here don’t have a choice, other than to make do with
what they have.”
“We know,” Casteel said quietly, leading us onto
another packed, filthy street.
Our pace was quick as we navigated the congested
streets and neighborhoods, working our way around
vendors, others hurrying about their daily tasks, and those
who appeared to shuffle aimlessly in their ragged, limp
clothing, their faces drawn, and skin ghostly pale. They
reminded me so much of the Craven that my stomach
turned. I wondered and then feared that they were suffering
from a wasting sickness that often arrived in the night to
steal the lives of those sleeping.