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The boys were learning As she talked they didn't watch her figure They watched her fingers

'And thus,' she said, 'let us consider the position before the founding of the Guild In this city, and indeed in resses by the dynae and powerful advantage cartels

'In the days before the founding of the Guild the seeking of advancerettable disagreements which were terminated with extreme prejudice These were extremely deleterious to the common interest of the city Please understand that where dishars

'And yet, and yet' She clasped her hands to her bosoale

'Clearly there was a need for an extre irreconcilable differences,' she went on, 'and thus was laid the groundwork for the Guild What bliss - ' the sudden peak in her voice guiltily jerked several dozen young men out of their private reveries - 'it must have been to have been present in those early days, when e the ultimate political tool short of warfare How fortunate you are now, in training for a guild which de and esoteric skills, and yet offers a power once the preserve only of the gods Truly, the world is the mollusc of your choice

Chidder translatedthe dinner break

'I knohat Terht loftily 'It means to inhume with an axe

'It bloody well doesn't,' said Chidder

'How do you know, then?'

'My family have been in commerce for years,' said Chidder

'Huh,' said Cheesewright 'Commerce'

Chidder never went into details about what kind of co ite needs, but exactly what items and which needs was never ht he explained carefully that Terminate with Extreme Prejudice did not simply require that the victih way, but that his associates and e with the business prehbourhood, so that everyone involved would know that the h to ry and indiscriminate

'Gosh,' said Arthur

'Oh, that's nothing,' said Chidder, 'one Hogswatchnight h-level business conference with the Hubside people and fifteen bodies were never found Very bad, that sort of thing Upsets the business community'

'All the business co face down in the river?' said Teppic

'That's the point Better it should be like this,' said Chidder, shaking his head 'You know Clean That's why ot to get on with the business these days, you can't spend your whole time on public relations'

The end of the crossbow tre else about the school, the cli, the music studies, the broad education It was the fact that you ended up killing people that had been preying on his mind He'd never killed anyone

That's the whole point, he told hi you

If I get it wrong now, I'an to hu little tune

There was a price the Guild paid for its licence It saw to it that there were no careless, half-hearted or, in a , murderously inefficient assassins You never met anyone who'd failed the test

People did fail You just never met them Maybe there was one under there, maybe it was Chidder, even, or Snoxall or any one of the lads They were all doing the run this evening Maybe if he failed he'd be bundled under there

Teppic tried to sight on the recuhed the examiner

His throat was dry Panic rose like a drunkard's supper

His teeth wanted to chatter His spine was freezing, his clothes a collection of da to The sudden decision hit hi It wasn't that he hated the Guild, or even particularly disliked Mericet, but this wasn't the way to test anyone It was just wrong

He decided to fail Exactly what could the old man do about it, here?

And he'd fail with flair

He turned to face Mericet, looked peacefully into the exaue direction to his right, and pulled the trigger

There was a

There was a click as the bolt ricocheted off a nail in thesill Mericet ducked as it whirred over his head It hit a torch bracket on the wall, and went past Teppic's white face purring like a maddened cat

There was a thud as it hit the blanket, and then silence

'Thank you, Mr Teppic If you could bear with me just one moment'

The old assassin pored over his clipboard, his lips led fro, and made a few marks on a piece of pink paper

'I will not ask you to take it fro and another I shall leave it on the table by the door'

It wasn't a particularly pleasant smile: it was thin and dried-up, a so boiled out of it; people normally smiled like that when they had been dead for about two years under the broiling desert sun But at least you felt he wasthe effort

Teppic hadn't moved 'I've passed?' he said

'That would appear to be the case'

'But-'

'I am sure you know that we are not allowed to discuss the test with pupils However, I can tell you that I personally do not approve of theseto you' And Mericet stalked out

Teppic tottered over to the dusty table by the door and looked down, horrified, at the paper Sheer habit made him extract a pair of tweezers froenuine enough There was the seal of the Guild on it, and the crabbed squiggle that was undoubtedly Mericet's signature; he'd seen it often enough, generally at the bottoside comure on the bed and pulled back the blanket