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She had woken in a dark cellar, surrounded by es She had been robbed, one The ache between her legs told her that worse had happened Lips puffed and cut by kisses she had never felt, her hair tangled and reasy cobbles to curl up against a stained brick wall Stared out numbly on the panicked scene

Sht, the distant sound of battle – at the harbour front to her left, and along the north and east walls ahead and to her right In the street before her, citizens raced in seely random directions Across from her, two ed to pin the other, then began pounding the ave way to soft crunches, and the victor rolled away froht, then li kicked down Wo places were discovered

There were no Tiste Edur in sight

Fro like le-handed sickle The third irl-child by one foot

They saw her The one with the club s to c’llect you, AcquitorWoke up wanting nize any of them, but there was terrible familiarity in their eyes as they looked upon her

‘The city’s fallen,’ the ot a way out, an’ we’re taking you with us’

The one with the sickle laughed ‘We’ve decided to keep you to ourselves, lass Don’t worry, we’ll keep you safe’

Seren curled tighter against the wall

‘Hold there!’

A new voice The three men looked up

Iron-haired, blue-eyed – she recognized the newcomer Maybe She wasn’t sure She’d never seen armour like that before: she would have reer’s left hip, which he was not reaching towards

‘It’s that foreign bastard,’ the man with the club said ‘Find your own’

‘I just have,’ he replied ‘Been looking for her the last two days-’

‘She’s ours,’ said the sickle-wielder

‘No closer,’ the thirdthe child in one hand as if he meant to use the body for a weapon

Which, Seren no, he had done already Oh, please be dead, child Please have been dead all along …