"Pardon my manners, my lady," said Zechariah. "I am called Zechariah, a humble scholar and scribe."

"And a storyteller," she said. Her speech, unlike Zechariah and Ahlund's, had little accent to Justin's ears. "Please, just call me Leah." She looked up at Justin expectantly.

Justin hesitated. He had never been very comfortable with his stature. In a weird way, people of below-average height sometimes intimidated him-especially girls. Looking down on them made him feel like a ...