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"Wait, please" I considered what to tell him I’d killed the man, or rather his body; he deserved to know at least that s that had happened to us--or hadn’t yet done them, now that I’d thrown us all back in tione mad

Unless I offered him evidence to the contrary "No one knows about your life before you came to Toriana, do they? You’ve never confided it to anyone Certainly not me"

"What are you about now, Char soft and lethal

"You were five when your parents sent you away to school They didn’t tell you that you would be kept there, that you wouldn’t go home for holiday like the other boys" I looked round at his things "You’ve always had the best that could be provided They paid for you to have a private rooarments But there were no letters, Dred They wouldn’t even permit your nanny or valet to write to you"

His eyes took on a dangerous glitter "Who told you this?"

"You did, or more precisely, you will" And I proceeded to tell him the rest I spared him no detail, and when I naland forever, he turned his head and stared into the fireplace

It wasn’t anger or wounded pride He was ashamed of what they had done to hi it

Once I had finished, I picked up the glass of brandy I disliked so intensely and took a large s After another round of coughing, I handed the remainder to him "In fourteen days there will be an invasion of Rumsen Talian Reapers will coents of an Aramanthan warlord called Zarath They plan to use the dreas to turn our people into puppets"

He drained the rest of the brandy "I don’t kno you found out about my boyhood, but dreamstone and time travel are myths The Tillers would never perardedwith poppy dust, have you?"

"The Reapers have already infiltrated the Tillers," I assured hi Lord Walsh"

"Nolan Walsh, the banker?" When I nodded, hebut a pompous ass"

"Takes one to know one, does it?" I asked sweetly Before he could reply, I added, "In a little over a week, that pompous ass will capture you and me at Feathersound Yes, I know you own it To save my life, you’ll s a spirit stone, Walsh will kill himself, and your body will be possessed by Zarath The warlord needs your mind power to remove the final obstacles and set off the dreamstones"

He stared at ic"

"That reminds me" I smiled "Your current suspicions about me are correct I aic has no effect on ift of enchantment worked extremely well; that little detail could remain between me and the future Dredmore

He came to me and jerked me to my feet "If what you say isn’t some bizarre fancy you’ve dreamed up to confound me, and by some impossibly wild chance you have returned from the future, then why didn’t you stop the Reapers while you were there?"

"I did" I rested ainst his chest "Just before Zarath cast his spell over the city, I drove an iron spike through his heart and killed hi I felt "Which was, coincidentally, your heart"

"You killed me"

I nodded "Before you surrendered your body to Zarath, you made me promise that I would I didn’t enjoy it as much as I expected Really a lot of blood"

His hands fell away "Now I do believe you"

"Excellent" I turned e round, Connell" I saw the surprise on the servant’s face before I said, "Yourto call on Lord and Lady Walsh"

Dredmore said very little as we rode to the Hill I pulled up the shade so I could see the ain While I would never care for the ton’s lofty coround had not been an improvement

"Do you mean to expose Walsh in front of his fae stopped, I reached up and felt for my pendant "We will speak to him privately"

He frowned "If he is under Reaper control, he will deny every charge, and then use his influence to destroy my credibility and your life"

"Not this time" I reached out and patted the back of his hand When he seized e yourabout the future, have you?"