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"I do I’ you know that if you steal fro idiot Even the real cards, used correctly, have dangers Not all truths are beautiful These cards can make a man delusional Make his to those ed not wisdom to power" There was a bitterness in her tone, but before Kip could ask, she went on: "Regardless, a woman must needs protect herself I don’t care about your father, except to make his card I don’t care about you, except to make your card This is what a Mirror does It’s who I am It is my mission from Orholam himself, and I will do it well If you help me do it, I will be happy to help you You’ve let ive you this to start: if you play with the deck that Andross Guile gives you, you’ll always lose"

Chapter 48

"Paryl is unique aerous"

Teia scowled She thought that despite being the weakest and the worst color, at least paryl wouldn’t get you killed or drive youin one of the Blackguards’ training halls It was dinner time, and there weren’t many scrubs in the hall Mostly it was inductees fro his shins ainst a post He’d told Teia once that it lightly broke the bones in the shin, and that the body responded by building theher He’d showed her his luht it was the greatest thing she’d ever seen But right now, he’d slowed his training, obviously eavesdropping

"What’s dangerous about it?" Teia asked Her private tutor, Marta Martaens, was more than fifty years old Ancient for a drafter Wavy dark hair gone platinuo blind or burn to death"

Teia took a sharp breath Oh, is that all?

"To see paryl, you have to dilate your pupils much, much more than ister Martaens sucked at her thin upper lip

"Yes, Mistress"

"Do it I need to see"

It took Teia a moment It was hard to relax your eyes as far as paryl deister Martaens said "Now, back to normal I assume you’ve never seen your own eyes in a mirror when you’ve done that? No? Watch"

The woman stared at Teia, and her eyes dilated unnaturally wide, the iris a tiny band of brown around a huge pupil

Teia made a moue of appreciation

"That’s to see sub-red," the old drafter said Then her pupils flared again, stretching the sclera itself, her entire eye going an eerie black, pushing the white to nothingness

Teia flinched and shrank back

The woman’s eyes went back to normal in a blink "That’s what your eyes look like when you’re viewing paryl, Adrasteia Our eyes themselves are different, the lenses far more malleable, blessed by Orholam to see differently Can you see superviolet?"

"No And I’ht away

"Unfortunate"

"Are you?"

"Color-blind? No, but it’s ht, far more than other drafters But that doesn’t necessarily overlap hat others see My own mistress’s master Shayam Rassad was coated perfectly with sub-red and paryl But, dangers First, the physical: if you dilate your eyes so o blind Slowly, usually, but you need to take extreh talk Let’s see what you can do"