Strawberry Torte, Pinwheels, and a Missing Heart (2/3)

Rowan glanced behind him to see the girl who'd sold him flowers at the Core Compound, the one whose sister he'd sung off as a favor, lurking some distance away at the side of the street.

When she saw him looking at her, her eyes widened and she jumped behind a cart full of paper pinwheels. They spun intermittently in the breeze, each blade the color of one of the Orderly Branches. The red, yellow, dark green, and sky blue blurred together around a sun-like disk of silver and white representing the Core.

"She's a novice of the Order." Wren didn't even try to hide the disgust in his voice.

"Yes. How do you know?" It shouldn't surprise Rowan that Wren knew anything anymore.

"I recognize the uniform. I wanted to wear one, once."

A white tunic and loose white pants. A simple black belt and black slippers. Rowan opened his mouth to ask exactly what Wren meant, but Wren cut him off with a wave of his hand.