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Ary as they’re going to be" And then, heedless, he beached the skimmer directly in front of the mob

Chapter 9

"Commander, could I talk with you for a moment?" Kip asked

After Gavin and Karris left, Couards had taken over the fastest galleass in the fleet and, taking Kip, had headed for the Chromeria

Everyone had been busy all the ti the sailors’ lead and trying to learn their craft Coiven the chance to rumbled at first, but were eventually won over by how quickly the Blackguards learned

For those eren’t on duty, Ironfist supervised shifts of sparring and calisthenics on the galleass’s small castle Kip was allowed to watch, but mostly he tried to keep out of the way It had taken hiure out when the commander would have a few empty minutes for Kip to bother him

The commander looked at Kip Nodded Walked back into the cabin the captain was sharing with hie, but now he found it leaking away as they came into the s the battle at Garriston, I--Well, sos that couldn’t really have happened, do you knohat I--But that’s not what I…" Kip was being stupid, inarticulate He flexed with his bandaged hand It hurt "I killed the king--satrap--whatever When I did it, Master Danavis--II’d fouled everything I didn’t mean to disobey, it just didn’t--I don’t know, ht He felt like he was veering all over the place He’d killed people, and part of hi in the faces of those ouldn’t take him seriously Except that he had literally sht about it, he felt wretched But that was too hard to say "I still don’t knohat I messed up, and what it cost Can you tell me?"

Commander Ironfist drew a deep breath Seemed to reconsider "Hand," he said

Kip presented his right hand, not sure what the i commander wanted

Commander Ironfist looked at him flatly

"Oh!" Kip presented his left hand The coe He said, "I was fourteen years old when I killed overnor--and she was angling to depose Paria’s satrapah and becoh I didn’t know that then I alking past her chambers one day, and I heard her cry out I had first drafted perhaps teeks before I went in, and I saw the assassin Small man, features of the despised Gatu tribe, teeth stained fro khat, and poison on the wavy blade of his kris I re that only if I drafted could I stop hi didn’t just happen as it had teeks before He stabbedwhat I’d seen, he jumped out thehe’d climbed in and tried to escape over the roofs I chased him, and I beat him with my fists, and I threw him off the roof"

Kip sed Ironfist had chased an assassin, unarmed, across rooftops, and killed a man armed with a poisoned blade--when he was fourteen?

Ironfist paused, exaestured for the ointiven Kip and rubbed it on the raw skin Kip hissed and clenched everyout

"You need to stretch your fingers," Ironfist said "All day, every day If you don’t, your fingers will tighten up into claws in no tiers, and you’ll have to split your skin open just to move Take a little pain now or a lot later"

This was a little pain?