TRAVELLER (Book 1 in the Brass Pendant Trilogy) Read Online Free Page B

bathroom and combed my hair. I had to tie it up for school but I couldn’t braid it in Aldirite style. I had to braid it loosely behind my ears instead, and I tied the remainder of my hair together loosely before twisting it around itself and fastening it at the back of my head. It was up to female questers to copy the locals when it came to styling our hair. Only to a point though. Our people would never add poisons of any kind to our hair, and we’d never put chemicals on our skin on purpose as was fashionable in this particular era. I tucked my pendant beneath my school blouse and pulled my blazer sleeve down over the leather binds which covered the shame on my wrist. Then, I ran swiftly down the stairs.
    It was part of my tutor’s responsibilities to make sure I ate in Aldirite style whenever it was possible and I entered the dining room to find Mirren had already finished preparing my breakfast. She’d set the table for one and, as usual, she left me alone the moment I was seated. In front of me, a warm piece of slightly sour, spongy bread was drizzled with honey and spices, and the strong, creamy cocoa which accompanied it was as familiar to me as the solitude in which I ate. I took small bites and chewed slowly because an Aldirite, and a Denborite too for that matter, would be late to their own memorial procession rather than be forced to hurry through a meal…….
    My tutor appeared as soon as I was done, making me suspect she’d been listening for the sound of my chair scraping, and I thanked her as she cleared the table silently.
    “I’ll be home just before set four,” I said to her cheerfully, as I tried to make another attempt at friendliness, but Mirren only nodded; and she didn’t say another word as she ushered me hastily out the front door with my cup and bowl still held in her hands. It was as if she couldn’t get me out the door fast enough, and when she closed the front door firmly, I sighed and hitched my bag of bound, paper books a little higher on my shoulder before heading for my front gate.
    Despite my disappointment at my tutor’s unresponsive demeanour, it didn’t take long for my spirits to lift. One of my favourite things about going to school here was walking there. Although I was often alone inside whatever dwelling I was based in, I was rarely allowed to be outside in a time segment by myself. I was surprised I’d been allowed to do it here, but at my begging, Mirren had applied to my mother and father directly for permission for me to walk to school, and I’d been granted it, seeing as I was so close to my finals. I wasn’t entirely alone of course. Aldirite guards shadowed me as always and I guessed there was probably at least four of them somewhere around me now. But, if I deliberately didn’t look for them, I felt almost……free.
    Other students walked to different schools along this street too, and as I walked, I passed by rowdy groups of them. They laughed and talked loudly to each other and I listened to the local phrases they used, and to the pattern of their speech. Mothers walked with small children and adults walked along this street too. Two old ladies with scarfs tied over their hair pulled covered trolleys on wheels behind them as they walked. Life moved and bustled around me and, except for the old ladies, everyone hurried. It was a clear, fresh day and I quickened my step a little to match the pace of the locals. 
    Traffic flowed on the road beside me and, on my other side, I walked past narrow terrace houses similar to my own. They had high front fences, and hedges were cut neatly around their security coded gates. This was an affluent area. Our people always based ourselves among affluence as we moved throughout the eras. More than once, over the turns, I’d asked my tutors the reason for this and I’d been answered with pained expressions and much shaking of heads. I’d been told firmly that to be of a low station was acceptable and that servants were