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"Why? They wouldn’t know"

"No, they wouldn’t But you would"

My shoulders dropped "Good point"

"Look, I don’t like this either, Ara Who’s to say Drake isn’t gonna wait for you to be out here, all alone--" he looked up at the loneliness of the erab you"

"Thanks I hadn’t thought of that, but now that youoverbranch I pass" Itout here, alone, in the dark, very, very scary

Mike looked up as a crow landed on a branch behind us, cawing loudly in the silence "Maybe you should just run the whole track"

"I’ll be okay It’s just a forest" I patted his upper arination Then again, I a out here would actually be s, Ara"

"Just doing my bit to be positive"

"Well, in the end, that’s what’s gonna get you through this" He looked at the crow again

"What’s wrong with the daly "Do you think he’s a spy?"

"These days, baby, I’d believe al Come on--" With his ar "It’s time to take you to your first, official, Private Councilin the air around me

Under a trap door that slid into a concealed pocket when Mike stepped on a tilebelow thehidden in the twist of the Throne Room’s patterned one, it al into stairs as it went beneath We followed the the stone column they wrapped, until a dark room opened out before us; flame torches burned low in sconces on the rock walls, which reached high up to the floor of the Throne Roo sinal" I dropped back on ht’s of the Round Table"

"Where do you think the legend cauard, came up from behind

"Really? That was ged and sat down, arht back in his chair "Pretty funny, huh?"

"It wasn’t aine as she skipped into the rooreat and many The head of each Core sat at this table, with the queen--" she pointed at me and then to a chair up the back of the room, "--while they wrote the laws that helped form our society It’s not a myth or a joke, Blade!"

"Sorry" He rolled his eyes and sat forward, dropping his elbows onto his knees

"Ease off the guy, Morg," Falcon said froainst the wall behind hi in here the whole tiaine asked "Haven’t seen you since you were bitten"

"Strangely, not so different"

"Well, once you’re full strength, you’ll love it," she said and placed a phone at the centre of the table "For E that David should be, too

"Yes," Mike said, pulling one of the ordinary kitchen chairs out from the ancient stone table "ThatSo, he hadn’t told the knights David was still alive I wondered if he would Well, he’d have to soon I mean, even if I hadn’t decided to have thes and prettyelse I said or did

"Ah, Eric, there you are" Blade flipped his chin; I looked behind

"So posture of ot lost" Quaid punched Eric softly in the ar out with the maids in the staff quarters, but there are so ht" Eric stopped laughing for a second and looked at Quaid, but it burst out of theain like a car horn

"Okay--" Mike rested his elbows on his knees, "--so, what did you find when you turned right?"

"Fat Margret and Edgar--kissing in the brooie--that nosey hag from dinner?" Blade asked

"Yup" Eric composed hiht with a lowly servant"

"They didn’t have a candlestick, did they?" Mike asked, and I laughed, though everyone else just stared at hialy

The only response was cleared throats and chirping crickets, though I was probably iot it"

He s his head, then stood up and offered onna call her Mrs Peacock froaine said

"That’s because you never played board gaaht, Mike?"

"Yeah" He s asked

"No--a character froaine sat down

"For an old bird, Morg, you don’t know much about nineties pop-culture," Blade said

"Shut up, douchebag!"

"Okay, cool it, you two," Mike cut in "Now, first on the agenda today--" He paused and looked at the phone "Morg, did you actually call Erabbed the phone, her cheeks blushing, and dialled Em’s nuuys shushed hilare then turned back to the phone when E time"

"Okay Present," Emily said in her sweet voice

"E begins now; just speak up if you wanna add so"

"M’kay"

I looked from the phone, to Mike It was once weird to see hiirl--er, phone--but it kind of felt nice now, to knoas happy--that he wasn’t alone

He paced the floor, first addressing the subject of the defectors our Order had just inherited, how they seemed to be trustworthy so far, then went on to discuss the coronation, deciding it would be held this week--provided the Upper House approved "Which brings us to our next topic"

All eyes in the roo of the knights"