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Keth pulled the girl further under the s shelter and waited with her Her racking coughs slowed, then stopped She clung to Keth as if he were her last hope in the world

s gone,Keth told her over and over wont come back Let me fetch you some water froers dug deeper into his ar her up in his ar and carried her over t o the shrine The topmost step was dry, protected by the domed roof from the rain that pelted doith a roar Keth reached out with cupped hands and ferried reedily, wincing as the liquid passed th rough her bruised throat

The rain had slowed to a drizzle again when the arurimi returned Dema and a number of other aruri by the uessed they had searched all through the downpour at its worst

De froe-blue stole and arurih What, if anything, was passing through your lared up at him as the yaskedasu shrank into the shelter of his ar her I didnt knohen your people would arrive

Let hiht there, alrasp, and you let him escape

would have been dead if I hadnt cut the scarf froently, them, please

She raised her chin to show them the plum-and-blue mass around her neck

Deht here, and you scared hih another of those ridiculous cleansing terued his forear where he went froot escape routes all over the city,Keth said

know thatDemas voice was thick with awful patience s e needed to catch him in the act

would have died,Keth insisted stubbornly s the honour in catching him if you let hi to get the other man to see his point

The yaskedasu at his side hed

Asked Keth

The yaskedasu looked at hilared at the arurilass

murder isnt an okozou matter to me,Keth said fiercely it shouldnt be okozou to you,he added, with a glare of his own for Deht,he told the arurimi know the drill Search the area once more, then resume your patrol pattern Move outTo Keth and the yaskedasu he said, on Well get you dried off and looked after And then well try and find out what you saw

T see nothin,the girl rasped

know,replied De froirl to her feet They followed Dema as the rain slowed, then stopped

Gla ki was restless that night Tris finally settled her late, by telling stories of her ti Circle Outside she felt the rain slack off, build, pour, then stop There would be no more rain for two days; this storm had moved on With Glaki asleep at last, she wished the stor Chi their way through the ht and Glaki did not so much as twitch, Tris collect ed Chime Little Bear, worn out by the process of beauti-fication, snored on the bed next to the sleeping child Once Tris set the usual terms with Ferouze and watched the old woman climb up the stairs to Glaki s roo at her back and walked out into Chamberpot Alley

The air was cool and fresh, the winds that explored Khapik lively and curious Tris slipped off her spectacles and tucked the into the trance she would need to scry the winds As colour, m ovement and shapes soared by, she set off into Khapik She kept to the back alleys, not wanting the sight of aruri that night They came fro ht a gli, snow-capped le that was once a garden in a dry land She gasped onder at that last Not only was it infused with ic was faarden that was such ato do with hiroped for h, waited to regain the calain

It was easier to see wind-borne colours and iht leeched the colour fro ate, Tris wandered down Woeful Lane, through t he mazes of back-of-the-house paths and service alleys to Painted Place, then out along Drunkards Grief Street She saw very few people, which was how she wanted it These were the paths taken by servants, prathmuni, and those whose business in Khapik was suspect As shea woertips, and ato life She wanted to see that bird

Not tonight, she told herself Youre looking for other things tonight Standing at the intersection of three streets, she turned, eyes wide, searching for any hint of the Ghost There: the air blowing down Kettle Court showed her a dirty hand fued tunic It yanked out a yellow head veil, a yaskedasi veil