Twelve Words at Carrick Stile

At Carrick Stile Keeper Hedda Lorne stood at the House Mara queue with her lips moving over her twelve words, counting them off against her knuckles while the lamp came up behind her. She did not look back at the glow. When the gate-boy asked for a name for his ledger she gave him only the fare, paid in full, and walked on with her own name still locked in her head.