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"But you’re--"

"Seventeen," I finish for him "I still have some ti into a gri his words "Howit aloud makes my insides ache And Kilorn has even less than"And there are no jobs," he mutters, more to himself than me "No way for you to avoid conscription"

His confusion puzzles s are different where you’re from"

"So you steal"

I steal "It’s the best I can do," falls froood for "My sister has a job though" It slips out before I remember--No she doesn’t Not anymore Because of you

Cal watcheswhether or not to correct ht, to keep froer But heto hide "Were you at the Hall today?" I think he already knows the answer "The riots were terrible"

"They were" I almost choke on the words

"Did you," he presses in the quietest, cal a hole in a da out I couldn’t stop the words even if I wanted to

I don’t mention Farley or the Scarlet Guard or even Kilorn Just that my sister slipped me into Grand Garden, to help me steal the money we needed to survive Then came Gisa’s mistake, her injury, what it meant to us What I’ve done tofrom the people I callbut darkness around er how terrible I am He doesn’t ask questions, even when I don’t make sense He just listens

"It’s the best I can do," I say again before ives out entirely

Then silver shines in the corner of ht, I can just see the outline of the king’s fla crown stamped into the metal When he presses it into one cold

I don’t want your pity, I feel like screa, but that would be foolish The coin will buy what Gisa no longer can

"I’s shouldn’t be like this"

I can’t even suth to frown "There are worse lives to live Don’t feel sorry forabout the mud and shadows et a chance to look back and thank the strange servant

My home is quiet and dark, but even so, I shudder in fear Theseems a hundred years away, part of another life where I was stupid and selfish andbut a conscripted friend and a sister’s broken bones

"You shouldn’t worry your mother like that," my father’s voice rumbles at me froround in more years than I care to remember

My voice squeaks in surprise and fear "Dad? What are you doing? How did you--?" But he jabs a thu from the house For the first tiive it a look," he says, gruff as ever He wheels past round Every house has one, regulating the electric charge that keeps the lights on