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The three came down to the Westway and presented the her teeth in expectation of the greeting Silverswords reserved for Misbegotten, which was, at best, to see how long they could keep the Breakblades had no use for soldiers in general: Cloistered as they were in the scented calm of the capital, they only wondered what had taken others so long to win the war As for Misbegotten, bastards were beneath their notice

In Liraz’s case, literally beneath She stood as high as their breastplates; they enjoyed pretending not to see her Like all Breakblades, these tere near seven feet tall, not including helmet plumes Maybe a couple of inches were boot heel, but even barefoot they would have been giants They were giants that Liraz knew she could fell with a stroke, whichto endure their disrespect

"Slaves enter by the Eastway," said the one on the left, bored, without even looking at theotten They wore vests of dark gray uards and breeches of black leather reinforced with plate The leather orn, the mail was dull, there were dents and repairs in the plate For the purpose of their audience with the emperor, they wore short capes, which were in better shape than the rest of their unifor but a claw-hold for the enee: an oval escutcheon containing links in a chain Chain Supposedly it signified strength in solidarity, but everyone knew it reallythe slavers their chains, and she understood the i it down the Breakblade’s great gorge, but it was fantasy She did nothing, said nothing

Hazael, however, laughed He was the only person Liraz knehose fake laugh sounded real--disarlance at hi mocked Always assume so, she wanted to tell hie, he meant," he said, as if she’d ine being able to laugh the way her brother did--the tu, easy sound of it, the loose-h, the sound was sharp and dry even to her own ears--a hard crust of laughter coht, I would be a stale soldier’s ration, just enough to live on

Akiva didn’t laugh, either Devoid of antagonism or any kind of reaction, he held the Iuard’s face and waited while he read it Disgruntled, the guard waved the Astrae between them How different they were frohter, Akiva saturnine and silent Sunshine and shadow And what am I? She didn’t know Stone? Steel? Black hands and hter?

I aht--not in bondage but in strength She strode between her brothers, three abreast down the center of the broad city boulevard This is ht, in the laht of their feathers, and folk drew back froht, we have kept you too safe if it is us that you fear They were neither loved nor respected by the people, Liraz knew, and soon they would be infa as she had her brothers

63

LUCK FRICTION

"They’re unreal, aren’t they?"

Ziri flushed He hadn’t heard Karou co her friends kiss Had he been staring? What had she seen in his face? He tried to look nonchalant

She said, "I think they breathe at least half their air out of each other’s mouths"

It did seem like that, but Ziri didn’t want to let on that he had noticed He’d never known anyone to act like Zuzana and Mik They were out in the chicken yard right now--of all places unconducive to roh the open door, washed white by sunlight Zuzana was balancing on the edge of the rusty livestock trough so she was taller than Mik, leaned over him with both arers tangled in his hair His hands, though His hands were cupped around the curve of her pale legs, tracing lightly froain It was that et hi intimacy of the touch

He had witnessed affection in chienerally been reserved for mothers and children, and the other for dark-corner encounters during the drunken revels of the Warlord’s ball He had lived all his life in a city at war, spent most of his time with soldiers, and had never known his parents; he’d never seen affection and passion so perfectly paired, and… it hurt, somehow It wrenched an ache fro someone as his, to touch like that

"It ht of it

"No" Karou’s voice istful "More of a luck thing" He thought he saw a flash of pain on her face, too, but she sone "Funny to think it’s only been a few months since she was afraid to even talk to him"

"Neek-neek, afraid? I don’t believe it" There was a ferocity in the tiny Zuzana that had started Virko calling her neek-neek, after a growlso down predators ten times its size

"I know," said Karou "She’s not exactly tione Ziri had just finished sentry duty and scraped the dregs of breakfast onto a plate for his, cold couscous, apricots Had Karou already eaten? Her ared around her waist "It was the only ti in the soft way of good memories Her face had become so much more alive since her friends arrived "She didn’t even know his naet so nervous every tiht see him"

Ziri tried unsuccessfully--not for the first time--to picture Karou’s hu of this world beyond the kasbah and the desert andit

"So what happened?" he asked, setting his plate on the table The hall was eo had called an asseo straight there Finding hiered He didn’t want to gulp down food in front of her, for one thing, and for another, he just wanted to stand here, near her "How did they… finally?" He meant to say "fall in love," but it embarrassed him too much to speak of love--especially now that she kne he’d felt about her as a boy She had to have read it on his face and in his blush when he’d told her how he’d been watching her at the Warlord’s ball all those years ago He wished he could take back that confession He didn’t want her thinking of him as the boy who used to follow her around He wanted her to see hirown