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"Stop nodding, you idiot," he shrieked at Ryu "You don’t believe ree with me You’re just like all the others You’re a liar and you’re co replaced Don’t think I don’t knohat’s going on I know about them, even if they won’t come to me But soon I will lead theain "Will you join me, Jane?"

I knew better than to infor at his side even less than I did delusional s about "the Ryu in the investigation? Why would he think he could lead that bunch? Anyone associated with Jarl would hate halflings, even if they hadn’t taken executing Conleth as theirto shove me farther behind him, but I didn’t let hio on the offensive, and Con was up to so to position hi her," Conleth de at where Ryu’s hand was stretched behind rab my hip "She wants to come to me and you won’t let her"

Conleth said this with such adamancy that, for a second, I almost believed it myself

"Conleth, this isn’t about Jane," Ryu said, reasonably "We’d all like a chance to talk to you, hear your story, but if you want that to happen, you’re going to have to come with us…"

Ryu had stretched a hand out to Conleth, opening his fra the ifrit halfling in the eyes with such noble intensity that I would have bet oner and would be ours in minutes

I would have, if I hadn’t seen the flash of the knife come out of Conleth’s sleeve, at his wrist, and into his hand It was rather ineptly done, if truth be told The point to this story is, after all, that I’m a jackass

When I was a little girl, about four, we had a really old grandfather clock It was very unstable, but we kept it propped up against a back wall It had been in etting rid of it I was playing on the hall floor one day, in front of it, when it started to topple over My dad--h all the old boots in our front closet, deciding which to keep and which to donate

My hbors who learned the story from my mom--would say that he was bent over a stack of shoes oneht where I’d been sitting My dad was big at that time, all race But he’d et to me

I couldn’t really remember the event, except for all the noise when the clock broke and being in my dad’s arms I couldn’t reot to me so quickly To be honest, I don’t think I’d ever entirely believed that story to be true

Until I, Jane True of the anti-athleticishtly behind Ryu’s hip, Conleth about six paces in front of us, and the next I was hurtling myself in front ofabout five feet away No fool, Ryu had also known Conleth would try so, and he was a fuck of a lot quicker than I Too bad I hadn’t figured that out before I decided to save his darettably brief out-of-body experience I looked fro his expression shift froe to a confusion that mirrored Ryu’s and finally to horror Because at that point the blade had already sunk deep

Into ht throughthe hilt as if he were about to serve up some sort of bizarre cannibalistic kebab

I didn’t stay out of body for long

"Motherfucker," I breathed, staring up into Conleth’s wide eyes as he let go of the knife "You stabbed me"

And that’s when the pain hit I’d never felt anything like it before--it was like getting hit, so there was an impact kind of pain that was sort of bone-deep and involved lots of achey bruised tissues And probably the breaking of some delicate little hand bones On top of that, obviously, there was the slicing--which was searing and hot and agonizing I knew, finally, why people writhed when they ounded It’s because pain was like a thousandup and down your nervous systeave way and I sat down

Ryu was there, of course, his face white as a sheet Caleb was also there in a flash, and they were both staring at ered off in a fiery blaze, doing his little rocket-ship trick and flying away Various people gave chase in the direction of his coot to work on the surrounding humans I would wonder later about what they told the bewildered populace of Allston Co stars? Bad acid?