Twelve-year-old Pyxis stood knee-deep in the stream behind her house, washing clothes. The freezing water sliced her to the bone with its chill, turning her lips as grey as her eyes. The colorless morning light cut through the fog and dappled the ground, shining on the water's surface and bouncing onto her face.

"Pyxis!" Pyxis looked up at the distant sound of her name; the sudden noise had startled a few birds into silence and sent silver and green minnows darting between the girl's pale legs for cover. She peered through the trees bordering the brook and up the grassy rise, where her younger brother Amos was driving the family's oxen herd to pasture.

"What is it?" she called, letting the blouse she was scrubbing trail in the water.

"Father says if you hurry, he'll take you to market with him," the scrawny boy responded, shaking his tousled blond hair out of his eyes. He stroked the side of a young bull that had paused to graze beside him and scuffed his bare feet on the ground. "If I give you a copper will you bring me a candy?"

"Where did you get a copper?" she asked suspiciously.

"Sold a yellow snake to Dirk," Amos said, scowling. "He gave me two pence for it."

"Ok, ok," she laughed. "I'll bring you a candy. Save your money for the fair, little brother, it's only two months away. Now scat." Amos grinned and turned back to the oxen; Pyxis resumed her tedious chore with renewed vigor.

An hour later, the sun finally rising, Pyxis staggered up to the house with the wash basket. Her two sisters were just finishing breakfast and hurried outside to help her with the load. Together, the three girls laid the dripping garments out on the grass to dry in the sun.

"Pyxie-girl!" Pyxis' father tromped into view, leading the great dun Belgian. "You ready to go?"

"Yes, Papa," she said, running to his side as he hitched the mare to the wagon.

"Mind your brother, now," her father instructed, wagging a beefy finger at his younger daughters. "We won't be back til after dark. I expect everything to be taken care of and the lot of you in bed long before I'm home." The burly man gave each girl a whiskery kiss on the top of the head, pulled his hat low, and slapped the reins gently. With that, they were off.

…..

Selling and buying done for the day, Pyxis left her father to his packing up. She dug out her money bag and selected three shiny coppers to buy a treat for her brother and sisters. She was wending her way through the crowded streets on her way to the candy shop, when a dark shape swooped down on her. She jumped and nearly struck at it before realizing it was just a crow.

"Hey, you, little girl, stop!" squawked the dingy bird. "Stop, stop, stop! I finally found you."

"What do you want with me?" Pyxis blurted, surprised.

"You're the one I was sent to find." It hacked loudly and began again in a mimicked, lordly voice, "'Scour the town to the east of the Capitol for a girl with hair like the fresh-turned earth and eyes of the stormy sky, and deliver to her these tidings,' that's what he said to me. Now don't take me lightly, little girl, for tonight your home will burn along with the rest of the province. Even as we speak the king lies dying."

"Oh hush, you gossipy fool. No good comes from listening to a crow; they're liars and thieves, nothing more. Never have I heard an honest word from the beak of such as you."

"If you don't believe me, look to the west. That's not a sunset like I've ever seen."

Pyxis clambered to the top of a pile of crates and peered over the low rooftops. The sky had dimmed with the evening, but the horizon was alight with a harsh orange glow. What she had taken for the dark clouds of an autumn storm was in fact smoke, a thick black haze obscuring the towering magnificence of the none-too-distant city. On the road connecting the two districts, a company of riders in Tairenell colors beat their horses toward the town, the blaze of the fire following at their command.

The crow settled himself on Pyxis' shoulder, talons puncturing her flesh and making her cry out softly.

"I believe you," the girl said mournfully, eyes on the fast-approaching horsemen, "though why you speak the truth I can only wonder."

"A magician cursed me for my tomfoolery; he didn't like my teasing ways. Only by helping you can I free my tongue from its bind. My words until then must always be truthful.

"The message, my lady: 'The assassin has struck. Our good king Orion the Hunter has been wounded and his young wife who carries the heir has fled. With his death will come ruin. Scorpius of Tairenell rejoices.'"

"Who sent you to me, Crow? And why tell me, rather than one who can help? Surely a soldier or baron or some such would be the one you seek."

"Wait, you impatient girl. There is yet more. 'Seek out the rhino with the horn of silver. His abode is in the sky of deepest night, beyond the borders of our world. The way there is through the river.'

"As to your questions, fair young lady, I'm afraid I cannot answer. My oath of secrecy is greater still then my cursed honest tongue. Farewell, girl." Before she could protest, the crow had taken off into the smoky sky.

…..

Ten minutes later, the town was on fire. "Papa!" screamed Pyxis, pushed this way and that amongst the terrorized people. The market place was packed with a sweaty, swarming throng, and a young girl of a slight build had no hope of escape. In a moment, she would be crushed. "Papa!" she screamed again.

A flailing arm caught her in the side, and Pyxis was flung against the stone wall of the tailor's shop. Desperate, she climbed through the open window above her, fighting for breath and coughing from the churning dust and smoke.

Once inside the cramped, dark room, Pyxis sank to the floor. This near to the flaming vendor's stalls, sweat soaked her body. The little stone building roared like an oven; the poor girl baked in the heat. Smoke filled her lungs, and still she gasped for breath.

Looking around in a slight panic, she discovered a basket filled with bolts of patterned fabric. She tore a length from one, dipped it in the water barrel, and wrapped it around the lower half of her face. Almost instantly, her head cleared and she felt she could breathe.

That problem solved for the moment, she stood up and made her way to the back door. The wood was scorching, but she kicked it open and stumbled into the alley. Eyes streaming from the thick, black, smoldering air, she ran down the alley to find her papa.