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Upon reaching my cellI fell into my hammock, fully clothed, still stained with the blood of the cave After sleeping rough for so long, it felt heavenly, and I drifted off to sleep alht, and it was earlywhen I awoke The tunnels were quiet outside Harkat ake and waiting for et up

"I heard you killed two va me a bucket of cold water, a towel, and a batch of fresh clothes I grunted in reply, undressed, and washed off the dried, flaky blood

"The valad in a way I do not enjoy the thought of killing"

"There’s little about it to enjoy," I agreed

"Was it awful?" he asked

"I don’t want to talk about it," I said

"Very well I will not ask again"

I sratefully, dunked my bald head in the bucket, shook off the water when I came up, scrubbed behind ht in Harkat’s round eyes di to leave her side Seba is with hi to coo and have a word?"

Harkat shook his head "Not at the rieve alone"

Drying myself off, I asked about Vanez and the other vampires, but Harkat wasn’t able to tell me much He knew at least ten vampires had died and more were seriously injured, but word of who they were hadn’t reached him

Once dressed, I accompanied Harkat to the Hall of Khledon Lurt for a quick meal, then andered back to our cell and stayed there for the rest of the day We could have mixed with the vampires in the Hall - they’d cheered loudly when they sawto the wild tales about the battle and hoe’d wiped out the vaered into our cell His face was paler than usual as he sluroaned "You heard the news?" he whispered

"Yes," I said Then, after a brief pause, I added weakly, "Sorry"

"I thought she was going to hed "I knew the wound was fatal, but she lasted such a long tian to believe she would live"

"Has she" - I cleared my throat - "has she been cremated yet?"

He shook his head "Nobody has The Guardians of the Blood are holding the bodies aside for at least two days and nights, as is our custom The vampaneze, on the other hand" He lowered his hands and his expression was genuinely frightening "They are being fed to the flames at this very moment We took them from the Guardians and cut them up into tiny pieces, so their souls cannot escape the pull of the Earth - they will never make it to Paradise I hope they rot here for all eternity"

I sensed this wasn’t the right tiust I’d felt in the cave, or my belief that vaue and nodded quickly

"What about Kurda and the other survivors?" Harkat asked

"They will be dealt with later," Mr Crepsley said, eyes narrowing "They will be questioned first, then executed I will be there when they are Do either of you wish to attend?"

"The questioning, yes," I said "I’m not so sure about the executions"

"I will skip both," Harkat said "I don’t feel it’s my place to watch This is a matter for vampires"

"As you wish," Mr Crepsley said "What about the funerals? Do you want to bid farewell to Arra?"

"Of course," I answered quietly

"I would like that," Harkat agreed

Mr Crepsley’s expression had softened as he mentioned Arra’s name "She did not say much once she left the cave," he whispered,was painful She conserved her energy Fought hard She clung to life as long as she could

"The ht in her throat, they rushed forward, eager to clear the way for other wounded vaot so accustomed to the false alarms that when she did eventually die, they did not realize it, and she lay there twentyblankly at me"

His eyes had filled with tears I handed hian to drip, but he didn’t use it "I couldn’t hear her last words," he croaked "She spoke too softly I think she wassome kind of reference to her defeat on the bars"

"Have you had any sleep?" I asked, beginning to cry too

"How can I sleep?" he sighed "There are the inquisitions to prepare for I will not , not if I have to forsake sleep forever"

"Don’t be silly," I gently chided hiht," he said with a sniff

"Then you’ve plenty of time Get soo together"

"Promise?" he asked

"I wouldn’t lie to you about so this important," I replied

He nodded, rose, and started for his cell In the doorway, he paused and looked back "You did well in the cave, Darren You fought bravely I was proud of you"

"Thanks," I said, choking onfreely now

"Proud," he ain, then faced the corridor and shuffled off to his cell, carrying himself like an old, tired, broken ht, Kurda San

The Hall of Princes was packed with furious, bitter vampires, as was the cave outside Virtually every vampire in the mountain wanted to be there to jeer at the traitor, spit at him, and cheer his sentence when it was announced I’d come with Mr Crepsley and Seba Nile We were seated in the front row We hadn’t thought we’d get so close - we arrived late - but I soon discovered that I was the flavor of the moment The vampires attributed much of their victory over the vaht when they sawMr Crepsley and Seba along withback and viewed the proceedings froet as close to the platform as possible, and I didn’t have the heart to disappoint hih with Arra

The conspirators were going to be brought forward one by one, for separate questioning and sentencing If they spoke openly, and the Princes were satisfied with their answers, they’d be taken straight to the Hall of Death and executed If they refused to cooperate, they’d be led away and tortured in the hope that they’d spill their secrets (but vampaneze, like vampires, could deal with enormous amounts of pain and were almost impossible to break)

The first to face trial was Kurda The disgraced General was dragged forward in chains, past the ranks of hissing and screauards aside and struck or kicked him A few pulled at his blond hair and yanked fistfuls of it out by the roots By the time he reached the platform, he was in a sorry state, his white robes ripped, his body bruised and bleeding Yet still he held his head high, reacting to none of the abuse