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He blinked, walking across the roo down the tin It would be enough for the entire day He took an extra handful and stuffed it into a pouch, just in case

A few minutes later he was dressed and ready He sat down on the bed, closing his eyes, preparing for the day If the Citizen's spies were to be believed, other members of Elend's team were on their way 1to Urteau They were probably under orders to secure the storage cache and quell the rebellion; Spook would need to learn as oing over plans, thinking to hi in the rooms around him--the wooden structure seemed to shake and tre workers Outside, he could hear voices calling, yelling, speaking Bells rang faintly It was early yet, barely past noon, but the ot about six or seven hours of row and man could still thrive

Norht However, there were things he needed to do He opened his eyes, then reached to his night-stand, picking up a pair of spectacles They had been specially crafted, at his request, to hold lenses that made no corrections to his vision They were just filled with regular glass

He put these on, then retied the cloth around his head, covering the front and sides of the lenses Even with his heightened senses, he couldn't see through his own eyelids However, with the spectacles on, he could open his eyes and wear the cloth at the same time He felt his way to the , then he pulled off the blanket and threw open the shutters

Hot--nearly scalding--sunlight bathed him The cloth bit into the skin of his head But he could see The cloth blocked just enough light to keep hih to allow vision It was like the mists, actually--the cloth was nearly invisible to him, for his eyes were enhanced beyond the point of reason His mind just filtered out the cloth's interference

Spook nodded to hi cane and made his way from the roo softly on the ground in front of him with a pair of sticks "But even you have to ad under the lords"

Spook sat in a streetslot, back to the stone wall that had sustained the canal, head bowed slightly Marketpit was the widest of the streetslots of Urteau Once, it had been a ay so broad that three boats abreast couldrooe of others in either direction Now it had become a central boulevard for the city, which also ars

Beggars like Spook and Durn They sat at the very side of the slot, buildings loo like fortress walls above Few of the passers paid any attention to the ragged men Nobody paused to notice that one of the the crowd carefully, despite the dark cloth over his eyes, while the other spoke far too articulately to have been educated in the gutter

Spook didn't respond to Durn's question In his youth, the way he spoke--with a thick accent, language littered with slang--had marked hilib tongue or char manner like Kelsier's So, instead, Spook just tried to say as little as possible Less chance of getting himself into trouble that way

Oddly, instead of finding him easier to dismiss when he didn't talk, it seemed that people paid more attention to him Durn continued to pound out his rhythm, like a street perforainst the earthen floor for anyone to hear--unless one were Spook

Durn's rhythm was perfect Any minstrel would have envied him

"I mean, look at the market," Durn continued "Under the Lord Ruler, e openly in co skaa We're happy"

Spook could see the market It seemed to him that if the people were truly happy, they'd wear s and browsing, rather than quickly picking out what they wanted, thenon Plus, if the city were the happy utopia it was supposed to be, there wouldn't be a need for the dozens of soldiers atched the crowd Spook shook his head Everybody wore nearly the exact sa--colors and styles dictated by the Citizen's orders Even begging was heavily regulated Men would soon arrive to count Spook's offerings, tally how much he had earned, then take the Citizen's cut

"Look," Durn said, "do you see anyone being beaten or killed on the street? Surely that's worth a few strictures"

"The deaths happen in quiet alleys now," Spook said softly "At least the Lord Ruler killed us openly"

Durn frowned, sitting back, thuround with his sticks It was a coround, and found the Did the people know the talent they passed, quietly beating the ground they walked upon? Durn could have been a master musician Unfortunately, under the Lord Ruler, skaa didn't play ood to draw attention to yourself, no matter what the method

"There it is," Durn said suddenly "As proh the mutters, the sounds, the flashes of color and the powerful scents of refuse, people, and goods for sale, Spook saw a group of prisoners, being escorted by soldiers in brown So to hi tin wasn't about what one could sense, but about what one could ignore And he had learned very well to focus on the senses he needed, shunting aside that which would distract

The roup of soldiers and their prisoners The people bowed their heads, watching solemnly

"You still want to follow?" Durn asked

Spook stood

Durn nodded, then stood and grabbed Spook by the shoulder He knew that Spook could really see--or, at least, Spook assuh to have noticed that fact They both ars to adopt a guise of being afflicted in an attempt to elicit more coins Durn himself walked with a masterful false limp, and had his hair pulled out in sickly patches Yet, Spook could smell soap on the man's skin and fine wine on his breath He was a thief lord; there were few h with his disguises that he could walk about on the streets unnoticed

They weren't the only ones following the soldiers and their prisoners Skaa wearing the approved gray trailed the group like ghosts--a quiet, shufflingout of the streetslots, guiding the people into a wealthier section of the tohere some of the canals had been filled in and cobbled

Soon, the dead spots began to appear Charred scars--ruins that had once been ho to Spook, and he had to start breathing through hisat their destination The Citizen himself was in attendance1 He rode no horse--those had all been shipped to the farround on their own feet He did, however, wear red