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Asavi strode in, continuing the beating Shusten atte The next kick was to his balls and even Qeran winced at the whi from his broken nose

A bit of the spray of blood and snot spotted Asavi’s robe, and she gave a growl, pulling the curved knife fro!" Fahki, Shusten’s elder brother, cried, rushing to interpose himself "Mercy, for Everam’s sake!"

Fahki was unarmed, hands open in supplication He was careful to avoid touching the da in his path Her cry was quite convincing as Fahki stu them both to the dirty wooden floor

"Your cue, Drill He threw open the curtain, careful not to reveal Abban’s presence, and strode into the roo of this?!" Qeran roared, his voice like thunder in the low-ceilinged roo hilared at him "Are these drunkards your men, Drill Fahki’s head into the floorboards in the process "No, Da my meal in the establish Fahki, who choked and gagged at the grip on his collar, he reached a hand out to Asavi

The da took the offered hand and he pulled her to her feet, turning to cast a glare over the ainst the walls "Shall I kill thele warrior threatening to kill close to a dozen men, but it was a threat all took very seriously One did not take on the red veil of a drillmaster easily, and Qeran ell known to all the warriors of the Kaji, a living legend in both alagai’sharak and the training grounds

Asavi, too, cast her eyes over the , tense seconds At last, she shook her head

"Youwarriors "Tear the black from these two"

"No!" Fahki screamed, but the men, his spear brothers a moment before, were deaf to his cries as they ht hi out any resistance as half a dozen erly tore his Sharum robes from him Shusten was unable to put up even a token resistance,warriors stripped him

How quickly the fabled loyalty of Sharum fades when put to the test, Abban ood grace

"You are khaffit now," Asavi told the naked ave a snort "Perhaps you always should have been Return to your fathers in sha his hands and forehead on the floor in absolute supplication "They are brothers, da," Asavi said "The fig lands close to the tree" She turned to regard the other warriors "As for the rest of you, you will go to Sharik Hora and repent You will not take food or drink for three days in penance, and if I learn you have so ain, you will share their fate"

The warriors gaped a moment, until Asavi clapped her hands in a sharp retort thattheir bidos, the warriors hurriedly backed out of the roo," over and over They stumbled into one another as they bottlenecked at the stairwell, turning and running up the steps as fast as their sandaled feet could carry thelance at the naked men "Drillmaster, dispose of these pitiful excuses for "

Fahki and Shusten blinked in the diht as the hoods were pulled froround chamber Both had been "softened," as Qeran put it, bruises still swollen and red, not yet gone to purple Shusten’s arm had been set in plaster and his nose splinted Both had been dressed in ragged shirts and pants of khaffit tan