He’d had the thought of getting his GED in the back of his mind for a while.

[…] He wondered what sasswood was—Delah had sworn by sasswood that she was telling the truth when the coaxed those in the shadow village out of hiding. Delah explained that many years ago, before the Americos starting intefering in tribal business, trial by sasswood was a way of determining whether a person accused of a crime was innocent or guilty. The bark of a particular tree was mashed to make a truth serum. If the accused died after drinking the concoction, he was guilty. Refusal to drink was also an indication of guilt, in which case the accused was executed.

At the edge of my kingdom scurry ⁠Creatures in feathers and furs— Crows in a furtive hurry— ⁠Hungry and cringing curs

[A]ccording to prosody, this syllable has the diastole and the stress, whereas the second of “cujus” or of “animam” has not.