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There was another Atan runner waiting for thee froested that the runner had been sent to guide theessa waited with their forces, since if knights were left to their own devices in the forest, they would inevitably get lost Khalad’s class prejudices were still quite fir north from Lebas, but the trails and paths were quite clearly e of the vast forest that covered the northeastern quadrant of the continent, and the hundred Peloi Kring had brought with him from Eosia pulled in to ride very close to their allies Deep woodswestern Peloi very nervous

‘I think it has to do with the sky,’ Tynian explained to the others

‘You can barely see the sky when you’re in the deep woods, Tynian,’ Kalten objected

‘Exactly my point,’ the broad-faced Deiran replied ‘The western Peloi are accusto the sky overhead When there are tree-liet nervous’

They were never able to determine if the attempt was random or was deliberately aiues or so into the forest and had set up their night’s encae tent for the ladies – Betuana, Sephrenia, Xanetia and Flute – had been erected soht have a bit of privacy

The assassins ell concealed, and there were four of them They burst out of the thicket with draords just as Betuana and Xanetia were e from the tent Betuana responded instantly Her shipped out of its sheath and plunged directly into the belly of one of the attackers Even as she jerked the sword free, she dove to the ground, rolled and drove both feet full into the face of yet another

Sparhawk and the others were running toward the tent in response to Sephrenia’s cry of alars well in hand She parried a hasty thrust and split the skull of the shabby assailant who hadattacker

‘Look out!’ Berit shouted as he ran toward her Theto rise, his nose bleeding and a dagger in his hand He was directly behind the Atan Queen

Always before, when Xanetia had shed her disguise, the change had been slow, the concealing coloration receding gradually This tiht within her was no low Instead, she blazed forth like a new sun

The bloody-nosed assassin ht have been able to flee from her had he been in full possession of his faculties The kick he had received in the face, however, appeared to have rattled hih, just before Xanetia’s hand touched hile With hiswith horror, he stared at the blazing form of she who had just mortally wounded hier possible to recognize his expression The flesh of his face sagged and began to run down, turned by that dreadful touch into a putrefying liquid His ape wider as his cheeks and lips oozed down to drip off his chin He tried to scream once, but the decay had already reached his throat, and all that eed from his lipless mouth was a liquid wheeze The flesh slid off his hand, and his dagger dropped froed to his knees with the sli out of his clothing

Then the rotting corpse toppled slowly forward to lie motionless on the leaf-strewn floor of the forest –as Xanetia’s curse continued its inexorable course

The Anarae’s fire di hands and wept

Chapter 28

It was raining in Esos, a chill, persistent rain that swept down out of the mountains of Zemoch every autumn The rain did not noticeably dampen the Harvest Festival celebration, since most of the revelers were too drunk to even notice the weather

Stolg was not drunk He orking, and he had nothing but conte was a nondescript sort of fellow in plain clothing He wore his hair cropped close, and he had large, powerful hands He went through the crowd of revelers unobtrusively,and his wife Ruta had argued that , and that always put him in a bad huht, stepping aside for a group of drunken young aristocrats He was a good provider, after all, and their neat little cottage on the outskirts of toas the envy of all their friends Their son was apprenticed to a local carpenter, and their daughter had excellent prospects for a goodloved Ruta, but she periodically beca and pestered him to death about it This tie had no proper lock on the front door, and no matter how many times he told her that they, of all people, had no need of locks, she had continued to harp on the subject

Stolg stopped and drew back into a recessed doorway as the watch tramped by Djukta would nor’s way, but it was Harvest Festival time, so there would be plenty of confusion to cover any incidental outcries Djukta was not one to spend money needlessly It was a common joke in the seedier taverns in Esos that Djukta had deliberately grown his vast beard so that he could save the price of a cloak

Stolg saw the house that was his destination and went into the foul-sed for a ladder to be placed against the back of the house, and he went up quickly and entered through a secondstoryHe walked on down the hallway and through the door into a bedrooram and had pointed out the room of the owner of the house, alay down on the bed As long as he had to wait, he ht as well be co from downstairs

As he lay there, he decided to install the lock Ruta wanted It wouldn’t be expensive, and the peace and quiet around the house would be more than worth it

It was no htly unsteady footfall on the stair He rolled quickly off the bed, crossed silently to the door, and put his ear to the panel

‘It’s no trouble at all,’ a slurred voice outside said ‘I’ve got a copy in my bedroom’

‘Really, Count Kinad,’ a lady’s voice called from below, ‘I take your word for it’