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‘You can’t do business in the ht’

‘Not that kind of business, no But there are dangers to all this, Shand Threats And they need to be ht without your bodyguard?’

‘Ublala? That oaf? In Rissarh’s bed Or Hejun’s Not ht, anyway We take it in turns’

Bugg stared at her through the gloom He drank the last of the tea and set the cup down

‘Is all that true?’ Shand asked after a moment ‘Those invest us these things?’

‘Because your investments have to remain separate, disconnected There can be no comparable pattern Thus, follow his instructions with precision It will all coeniuses’

‘Understandable All he does seeets used to it’

‘And how is Bugg’s Construction doing?’

‘Well enough’

‘What’s the purpose of it, anyway? Just to make money?’

‘No The intention is to acquire the contract for the Eternal Do s Fragrant oils rubbed into clothing and skin Preserving oils rubbed in everywhere else Scouring flushes of eyes, nose, ears and mouth Then it was tiered outside for so to the east, the city’s less sane denizens already risen and venturing out onto the streets Clattering carts on the cobbles Somewhere a rooster crowed, only to have its exuberant cry cut off into strangled silence A dog barked happily

Footsteps, halting to Tehol’s right ‘You still here?’

‘Ah, Selush’s assistant And how are you this grisly , Padderunt?’

The old man’s expression was eternally sour, but at Tehol’s courteous enquiry it seemed to implode into a wrinkled mess ‘How am I? Sleepless! That’s how I am, y’damned snake! They still in there? It’s a lost cause, I say A lost cause Just like you, Tehol Beddict I knew youryou now?’

‘You knew her corpse, you old fool Before that we’d never met you’

‘Think she didn’t tell me all about herself anyway? Think I can’t see what’s there to be seen? The soul inside shapes the flesh Oh, she talked to ht’

Tehol’s brows rose ‘The soul inside shapes the flesh?’ He stared down at the wrinkled prune face glaring up at hi reh, here’s what happens when a decent ets no sleep!’