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As the night wore on, Throe walked the streets of Caldwell by hier than he&039;d been since he&039;d arrived in the New World

His beating at the hands of those two Brothers had healed up almost immediately, and the Brotherhood had released hi

He still had a number of hours before he was due to hts, walking in running shoes that had been a gift fro his stay with the Brotherhood, he had learned nothing about where their facilities were located He had been unconscious when brought into their compound - and locked in a van with no hen he&039;d left After a drive of some time, no doubt due to a circuitous route, he&039;d been deposited by the river, and left to his own devices

Naturally, the van had had no license plate, and no distinguishing features And he&039;d had the sense that he was being watched - as if they aiting to see if he tried to follow it as it departed from him

He did not He stayed where he was until it had driven off and then he had started upon his walkabout

Xcor&039;s brilliant ht Well, aside fro Throe&039;s life What little he had discovered about the Brotherhood was nothing that couldn&039;t have been guessed at: Their resources were extensive, judging by the amount and sophistication of the medical equipment he&039;d been treated with; the nu in the hall was just as impressive; and security was taken very seriously Indeed, theirs appeared to be an entire community, hidden fro had to be underground, he thought Well guarded Ca in particular; for even during the raids, when so many of the race&039;s homes had been found and wiped out, there had been no ru&039;s household had been hit

So Xcor&039;s plan had yielded little on Throe&039;s part but animosity

And for a moment, he questioned whether he would show up to meet his former leader or not

In the end, he knew such rebellion would re Throe wanted - the only thing, really And as long as those ashes were retained by the rit one&039;s teeth, duck one&039;s head, and push onward It was, after all, what he had been doing for centuries

Except he would not make the same mistake twice Only an idiot would not recall this visceral res really stood between theet the remains of his sister back And as soon as he did? He would miss his fellow soldiers in the same manner he ached for his family, but he would take himself out of the Band of Bastards - forcibly if need be Then perhaps he would put down some roots so to the Old Country He ht be too tempted to try to revisit his bloodline, and that would not be fair to theht, at around four a by the moon&039;s position, he dematerialized to the rooftop of the skyscraper He had no weapons on which to draw for protection - but he had no intention of fighting As far as he had been taught, his sister could not enter unto the Fade without the proper cereh to bury her

As soon as he did, however

Up high above the streets and other buildings of the city, in the curiously silent stratosphere where there were no horns or shouts or ru and bracingly chilly in spite of the humidity in the air and the war skipped along the underside of stor to the day

When he&039;d started his journey with Xcor, he had been a gentle a fe in hand-to-hand coer who he had been

Accordingly, he stood out in the open without cowardice or apology, feet braced and arms at his sides There was no weakness in the line of his chin, the contour of his chest, or the straight angle of his shoulders, and no fear in his heart at what reet him All of that was because of Xcor: Throe had technically been born hter that he had truly learned how to live up to his gender

He would always owe that to the soldiers he had been with for so long -

Froure stepped out, the wind catching a long coat and blowing it free fro overrode intent as Throe fell into a fighting stance, prepared to face his -

As the ht froht his face

It was not Xcor

Throe did not ease his stance "Zypher?"

"Aye" Abruptly, the soldier lurched forward, and then broke into a run to close the distance between them

Before Throe knew it, he was enco as his own, against a body as big as his own

"You live," the soldier breathed "You are alive"

Aardly at first, and then with a strange desperation, Throe latched onto the other fighter "Aye Aye, I am"

With an abrupt shove, he was pushed back and examined from head to foot "What e&039;er did they do unto you?"

"Nothing"

Those eyes narrowed "Be in truth with me, brother And afore you answer, one of your eyes is still black-and-blue"

"They provided me with a healer, and a Chosen"

"A Chosen?!"

"Aye"

"Mayhap I should try to get stabbed"

Throe had to laugh "She was like nothing on this earth Fair of hair and skin and countenance, ethereal, though she lived and breathed"

"I thought they had been fabricated"

"I do not know - mayhap I have romanticized it But she was exactly as rumors describe them - lovelier than any female your eyes have beheld"

"Do not torture ained his seriousness "Are you well"

Not a question - a deuest for the most part" Indeed, except for the shackles and the beat-down - although given that they were protecting a precious gem&039;s virtue, he had to say he approved of what they had wrought upon him "But aye, I am recovered fully, thanks to their healers" He looked around "Where is Xcor"

Zypher shook his head "He&039;s not co"

"So you are to kill me then" Odd that the male would task another hat surely he would relish

"Fuck, no" Zypher unshouldered one side of a rucksack "I aive you this"

Froe, square brass box with ornate s and inscriptions

Throe could only stare at the thing

He had not seen it for centuries In fact, he had not known it had been taken from his family until Xcor had threatened him with it

Zypher cleared his throat "He told me to tell you he releases you Your debt to hi your dead unto you"

Throe&039;s hands shook badly - until they accepted the weight of his sister&039;s ashes Then they were steadied

As he stood there in the wind and drizzle, poleaxed and unht circle, his hands on his hips and his eyes on the gravel that covered the skyscraper&039;s roofing panels

"He hasnae been the sa, I found hi"

Throe&039;s eyes shot over to the male he kneell "Indeed?"

"Aye He did so all day long And this night, he has not even gone out to fight He is back at the safe house, sitting by hiave ht the box even closer to his body, holding it tightly "Are you sure I am the cause for such upset," he said dryly

"Very much so In truth, he is not like the Bloodletter in his heart He wants to be - and he is capable of ainst others that I personally am not But to you, to us we are his clan" Zypher&039;s stare was filled with candor "You should coain - those ashes are your proof And we need you - not just because of all you do, but who you have become to us It has been but twenty-four hours and we are broken without you"

Throe glanced up at the sky, at the stor once been damned by circu damned by consent

"We will all be incomplete without you Even him"

Throe had to smile a little "Did you e&039;er think you would say such"

"No" The laugh that floated over upon the gusts was deep "Not about an aristocrat But you are more than that"

"Thanks to you"

"And Xcor"

"I&039;ive him any credit"

"Coht pain you this night, you are as lost without us as we are without you"

In response, Throe could only stare out over the city, its lights like that of the stars that were eclipsed up above

"I cannot trust hiiven you your freedo"

"We are all facing death sentences if we continue I saw the Brotherhood - if they were for compared to their resources now"