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Valek went over to thethe books His raceful that I wondered if he had been a dancer, but his words betrayed to estures were those of a trained killer

"Yelena, your job is very i you A shrewd assassin can watch a taster for several days to discover a pattern" Valek continued his lecture froht always cut a piece of meat from the left side, or never stir the drink Some poisons sink to the bottom of the cup If the taster only sips off the top, then the assassin knows exactly where to place the poison to kill his intended victi up the books The new piles were neater than the rest of the stacks on the floor It see the books He cleared a bigger path through his office

"Once you drink the poison, Margg will help you to your rooive her your daily dose of Butterfly’s Dust antidote"

I stared at the steaentered the room, it felt as if the executioner had justfor the lever Should I sit down or lie down? I looked around the roole as I realized I had been holding my breath

I raised the cup in a mock salute, and then drained the contents "Sour apples," I said

Valek nodded I had only enough tian to e head sprouted flowers from her eye sockets A moment later her body filled the roorew arht against the floor Gray spirits rose from under my feet They dived, poked and cackled ataway, but it clung and wrapped itself aroundon my head

"Murderer," it whispered "Sneaky bitch You probably slit his throat while he slept Easy way to kill Did you enjoy yourself as you watched his blood soak the sheets? You’re nothing but a rat"

I grabbed at the voice, trying to reen-and-black toy soldiers who held ht

"She’ll die fro said to the soldiers

They pushed ed into blackness

The stench of voained consciousness They were the un how I had ended up back in e of nausea deroped around for the slop pot and encountered theof a bed, which I clutched as dry heaves racked rateful to be on the floor of eon Beds were a luxury not included with the subterranean accoth to stand, I located and lit my lantern Dried vo wet and smelled foul The liquid contents of ood care of ht sarcastically At least she was practical If she had dumped me on the bed I would have ruined the mattress

I thanked fate that I had survived the poison and that I had awakened in the ht Unable to endure the feel of er, I made my way to the baths

On my return, voices stopped uishing my lantern in one quick motion, I peeked around the corner Two soldiers stood in front of reen-and-black colors of their uniforms--Brazell’s colors

Chapter Four

"Should we check if she’s dead?" asked one of brazell’s soldiers he held the lantern up towith the ives her a potion We’ll hear about it soon enough Besides, it stinks in there" The other soldier waved his hand in front of his face

"Yeah If the s off her voh…" The lantern soldier’s hand briefly touched theher down to the baths, clean her up, and have some fun before she dies"

"No, someone would see us If she survives, we’ll have plenty of ti a present, and definitely hed

They continued down the hallway and were soon out of sight I clung to the wall and wondered if what I had just witnessed had been real Was I still having paranoid hallucinations? My head felt as if it had soaked too long in a pool of water Dizziness and nausea rippled through one before I worked up the nerve to go back to my room I pushed the door wide and thrust ht into every corner and under the bed A harsh, acrid odor was the only thing to attack , I unlocked the shutters and threw the air

I looked at the noxious puddle on the floor The last thing I wanted to do was clean up the mess, but I kneould never be able to sleep while breathing in that foul s for the occasional bout of nausea, I