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"Thukdaks have no honor, everybody knows that," she retorted
"What a thukdak?
"Me I’ars over there, they’re thukdaks Don’t you know anything?" Evvy shook her head at Briar’s ignorance
"Ah," he said, enlightened "Back hoave the name first in Imperial, then translated it aardly into Cha the Chammuri word for rat "Nobody wastes a belbun meal on thukdaks"
Briar opened his ht and talked of food, then closed it How could he have forgotten what it was like, to always have an eht of, besides just staying alive, until his arrival at Winding Circle?
"Do you think you have no honor?" he asked Evvy "You’d better find soo till you do"
Evvy rolled her eyes "I swear by oddess of Yanjing," she told him, face and voice overly patient "I’d spit on it, too, but it would just go all overto see if she meant to trick him It occurred to him, suddenly, how nearly i into the person’s eyes He would have to trust his instincts after all
He released his hold on the reeds and madder plants The reeds unwound from the madder stems, then wove themselves into their basket fra away Most were grateful to return to their forotten howroots took The madder plants, firmly rooted and determined to stay that way, dreay fro circulation back into her ars "Third hour after dawn," she told Briar wearily, and spat on the ground next to her to seal the promise The madders instantly drew her wet spittle into their roots, buying round, even in thein his pocket, Briar found a silver dav coin, worth three of the copper ones "Find a harabbed it, but Briar didn’t let go "Hair, ears, neck, you na Understand?" Evvy nodded, and Briar gave her the coin "Have you any other clothes?"
There again was that too-patient, don’t-you-know-anything? expression on her face "This is ," she replied, and looked at the front of her tunic It was covered with grease from the food she carried "Maybe I can wash it at the hammam"
"Don’t bother," said Briar He hadn’t lived with Sandry for years without gaining so" All the Living Circle te for the poor If the Earth teive him any, Briar would find a secondhand clothes dealer Until he could hand the girl off to Jebilu Stoneslicer, he stood in the place of her teacher, which meant he was responsible for her needs At least, that was how Rosethorn and the girls’ teachers had always acted
"It would be nice to have soht My house, to And Evvy," he said as she turned to go She looked back at hio thinking you can disappear and keep that coin If I have to track you, you won’t like what coround, to remind him that she’d already prohts A hundred yards away she turned around Cupping her hand around her rinned "Briar Moss," he called back
"Toirl yelled She raced on up the path
4
Briar was just two blocks froht, when so He looked for the source and saw a stocky girl in a Ca toward him
"Pahan, we need help," she said when she reached hiave the medicine for" Briar remembered the boy whose facial burn he had treated and nodded "We can’t wake hiirl continued, her brown eyes worried "Looks like he was jumped and hit on the head, but nobody saho done it This way" She led hiap between the houses, Briar halted "I can’t take my horse down there, and I must look plain silly if you think I’ll leave hireen sash and used it to tie the horse to a nearly dry fountain She opened a cock in the stone over the spout, filling the basin with enough water for the animal to drink before she closed it "Nobody will dare touch him, tied up withhisthe placee’s kit froallant bow Girls usually giggled and blushed when he teased theave him a half-smile, her eway, into a small alley, and down a stair into a basement