Page 82 (1/2)

Spook smiled "You like the dresses?"

She looked down, flushing slightly "Ihaven't worn anything like this in years"

"Nobody in this city has," Spook said, setting down the charcoal and wiping his fingers on a rag "But, then, that s to loot It looks like I matched your size pretty well, eh?"

"Yes," she said quietly, drifting forward The gown really did look good on her, and Spook found it a little difficult to focus as she drew closer She eyed his charcoal board, then frowned "Isthat supposed to make any sense?"

Spook shook himself free of his trance The charcoal board was a mess of scratches and notations That, in itself, would have h to read There was, however, so else that made it even more incomprehensible

"It's ," Spook said

"The language you grew up speaking?" she said, fingering the board's edge, careful not to touch the writing itself, lest she se it

Spook nodded

"Even the words are different," she said "Wasing?"

"It kind of ,' " Spook explained "You start sentences with it 'Wasing the run of there' wouldthe where of how of the finds," Beldre said, shtly to herself as she read fro the hoanting the doing," Spook said, s away

"What?" she asked

Why do I always act so foolish around her? he thought The others always ht it was silly Now I start speaking it before her?

He'd been feeling confident and1 sure as he studied his plans before she arrived Why was it that the girl could alwaysthe old Spook? The Spook who had never been important

"You shouldn't be ashamed of the accent," Beldre said "I think it's kind of charibberish," Spook said, turning back to her

"But that's the best part!" Beldre said "It's gibberish on purpose, right?"

Spook remembered with fondness how his parents had responded to his adoption of the slang It had been a kind of power, being able to say things that only his friends could understand Of course, he'd started speaking in it so much that it had been hard to switch back

"So," Beldre said, eyeing the board "What does it say?"

Spook hesitated "Just randohts," he said She was his enemy--he had to re unreadable crossed her face, then she turned away from the board

Her brother always banished her fro i like she was useless

"I need to get your brother to use his Allo "To let them see that he's a hypocrite"

Beldre looked back

"The board is filled with ood I' him defend himself"

"That won't work," Beldre said

"Why not?"

"He won't use Alloainst you He wouldn't expose hily enough he will"

Beldre shook her head "You promised not to hurt hier "I promised to try to find another way And, I don't intend to kill him I just need to make hiain His heart lurched

"I won't do it, Beldre," Spook said "I won't kill him"

"You promise that?"

Spook nodded

She looked up at him, then smiled "I want to write hi to you; we could avoid the need for this in the first place"

"All right" Spook said "But, you realize I'll have to read the letter tothat could hurt my position"

Beldre nodded

Of course, he'd do more than read it He'd rewrite it on another sheet of paper, changing the line order, and then add a few uni crews to be unaware of ciphers But, assu honest with hiood idea It couldn't help but strengthen Spook's position

He opened hisaccommodations were acceptable, but cut hi Harder footsteps this tih, the soldier appeared around the corner to Spook's "room" a short time later