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The boy paused, drew in a deep breath

‘So shut your ugly face,’ he finished

Lenk blinked, recoiling froht the urge to look between Gariath’s legs again

‘You have a point, I’m sure,’ he said, ‘but try to think of people besides yourself and , we are officially out of tiet paid in tiet paid at all Gold doesn’t buy knowledge’

‘It buys woe,’ another voice chirped froard Denaos, inconsiderately long-legged and sliarded therin under sweat-e that involves saliva, sweat and soo,’ he said

‘A lack of attachold is an admirable trait to be nurtured and admired,’ Asper said fro’

Denaos’ scowl aze She brushed his scorn off like snow from her shoulders as she tucked her brown hair behind a blue bandana Her arlanced from Denaos to Dreadaeleon

‘Don’t let it bother you, Dread,’ she said, offering a rather modest so another feeeks without bathing?’ She sighed, tugging at the rather confining neck of her robes to expose a bit of sweat-kissed flesh

The widening of the boy’s eyes was ihast expression Asper wore Powerful as the boy e as his brain was, Lenk could hear the lurid fantasies running wild through his skull Asper’swithin the boy that not even years of wizardly training could penetrate

A smirk that was at once both sly and vile crossed Lenk’s face

‘Think of Asper,’ he all but whispered

‘Huh? What?’ Dreadaeleon blinked as though he were e his slender face as he sed hard ‘What … what about her?’

‘You can’t think she’s too comfortable here, can you?’

‘None … none of us are co s ‘It’s just … just an aard situation’

‘True, but Asper’s possibly the only decent one out of us After all, she gave up her share of the reward, thinking that the deed we’re doing is enough’ Lenk shook his head at her ‘I mean, she deserves better, doesn’t she?’

‘She … does,’ Dreadaeleon said, loosening the collar of his coat ‘But the laws … Ithediscoaze crept across his face as the two men shared a discreet and wholly wicked nod between the towards Asper

‘What?’ She furrowed her brow ‘Why?’

‘I sed the map I need to clean it’ He held out his hand expectantly, batting eyelashes ‘Please?’

The priestess pursed her lips, as though unsure, before sighing in resignation and reaching up Her robe pressed a little tighter against her chest Dreadaeleon’s eyes ider, threatening to leap frohtly more than modesty would allow at the delistening with sweat The fantasies thundered through Dreadaeleon’s head with enough force to cause his head to rattle

She undid the bandana, letting brown locks fall down in a cascade, a single strand lying on her breasts, an iers to rectify it

Lenk watched the reddening of the boy’s face with growing alarm Dreadaeleon hadn’t so much as breathed since Denaos our had set in before he could actually die

‘So … you’ll do it, right?’ Lenk whispered

‘Yes,’ the boy whispered, breathless, ‘just … just give lanced at the particular rigidity hich the wizard laid his book on his lap ‘Take your tie to wash apparent on his face

When he set his hand down into a h to ht up a glistening hand and stared at it curiously, furrowing his brow He was not the only one to stare, however

‘Who did it this tiar need and all of theo over the side’

‘No,’ Lenk ers ‘It’s a leak’

‘Well, obviously it’s a leak,’ Denaos said, ‘though I’ve a far less gracious ter,’ Kataria lanced at the boat’s side, the water flowing through a tiny gash like blood through a wound She turned a scowl up at Lenk ‘I thought you fixed this’

‘Of course, she’ll talk toh his teeth He turned around to i Carpentry isn’t an exact science, you know Accidents happen’

‘Let’s be calm here, shall we?’ Asper held her hands up for peace ‘Shouldn’t we be thinking of ways to keep the sea fro us first?’

‘I can help!’ Dreadaeleon appeared to be ready to leap to his feet, but with a ht better of it ‘That is, I can stop the leak Just … just give ently, past the rows of arcane, incoes With a wince that suggested it hurt him more than the book to do so, he ripped one of the it to the chain that hung froash

All eyes stared with curiosity as the boy knelt over the gash and brought his thuhtly less than heroic yelp, he pressed the bleeding digit against the paper and hastily scrawled out son

‘Oh, now you’ll do soical?’ Lenk threw his hands up

Dreadaeleon, his brow furrowed and ears shut to whatever else his coainst the ship’s wound Muttering words that hurt to listen to, he ran his unbloodied fingers over the page In response, its stark white hue took on a dull azure glow before shifting to a dark brown There was the sound of drying, snapping, creaking, and when it was over, a patch of fresh wood lay where the hole had been

‘How co her head

‘Possibly because this isn’t ordinary paper and I don’t have e ‘Possibly because it’s needlessly taxing for such a trivial chore Or, possibly, because I feared the years it took me to understand the properties of it would be reduced to perfor menial carpentry chores for nitwits’ He looked up, sneered ‘Pick one’

‘You did that … with paper?’ Asper did not conceal her amazement ‘Incredible’