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At the last second, soer No, I thought in terror as I realized what I was about to do My panickedcrack shook the rooainst the walls

Daylight poured in through a jagged fissure above us I’d split the golden do

A deep silence followed as every Grisha turned to me in terrified disbelief I sed, astonished by what I’d done, horrified by what I’d alht of Nikolai’s advice and hardenedis powerful?" I asked, startled by the icy clarity of my voice "You have no idea what he is capable of Only I have seen what he can do Only I have faced hier to h aze

"I don’t care if you think I’’s whore If you want to remain at the Little Palace, you will follow ht, or I will have you in chains I am a soldier I am the Sun Summoner And I’m the only chance you have"

I strode across the roo silent thanks that they weren’t locked

I walked blindly down the hall, unsure of where I was going, but eager to get far fro

By luck, I found my way to the war room Mal entered behindup their posts Fedyor and the others must have remained behind Hopefully, they’d make their own peace with the rest of the Grisha Or maybe they’d all just kill each other

I paced back and forth in front of the ancient th of the far wall

Mal cleared his throat "I thought that ell"

A hysterical hiccup of laughter escapeddown on our heads," he said "Then I guess it was just a partial success"

I nibbled et their attention"

"So you meant to do that?"

I almost killed soei, and Sergei would have been a lot tougher to patch up

"Not exactly," I ady went out oftable and restedto leave," I moaned

"Maybe," Mal said, "but I doubt it"

I buried ? I can’t do this This is like so," Mal said "For soing pretty well"

I peered up at hihost of a s over his lips

"Mal, I put a hole in the ceiling"

"A very drah and a sob "What are we going to do when it rains?"

"What ays do," he said "Keep dry"

A knock came at the door, and Tamar poked her head in "One of the servants wants to know if you’ll be sleeping in the Darkling’s cha forward to it I rubbed my hands over my face and heaved myself out of the chair Less than an hour at the Little Palace, and I was already exhausted "Let’s go take a look"

The Darkling’s quarters were just down the hall froe and rather for table and a few unco chairs Each as set with a pair of double doors

"These lead to a passage that will take you out of the Little Palace, ht She pointed to the doors on the left and said, "Those lead to the guards’ quarters"

The doors directly across from us needed no explanation They stretched fro, and their ebony as carved with the Darkling’s symbol, the sun in eclipse

I didn’t feel quite ready to face that, so I auards’ quarters and peeked inside Their common roo cards, and several overstuffed chairs were set around a sh another door, I gliuards," said Ta on soht about it," said Mal "But I don’t know that it’s necessary, and I’ree I’d put a certain amount of faith in Tolya and Tamar, but the only person I really felt sure of was Mal

"Maybe we should consider drawing froested Taood fighters a them, and they’d certainly lay down their lives for you"

"Not a chance," I replied "The King would hear one whispered ‘Sankta Alina’ and have my neck in a noose Besides, I’m not sure I want to put my life in the hands of someone who thinks I can rise froht And … can sorins broke out on Tolya’s and Tamar’s faces "Can’t we leave it that way for just a few days?"

"No," I laughed "I don’t want the whole thing caving in on us Talk to the Fabrikators They should knohat to do" I ran th of my palm "But don’t let theood reminders