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“Never saw an apprentice so loath to take a walk,” muttered Talmor under his breath to Sebell.

We could carry her,” Sebell said, in a whisper, “because, between you and me, I don’t think her legs are going to walk her.”

“I can walk,” said Menolly, shaking off their helping hands. “I’ve even got harper boots. I can walk anywhere!”

The last vestige of anxiety lifted from Menolly’s mind. As a journeyman in blue, she had rank and status enough to fear no one and nothing. No further need to run or hide, She'd a place to fill and a craft that was unique to her. She’d come a long, long way in a sevenday. The pulse of her words suggested a tune. She’d think of that later. Now, holding her head high, while the fire lizards swept in from the windows, trilling their happy reaction, she walked between Talmor and Sebell to the oval tables of her new station in the Harper Craft Hall of Pern.