Page 11 (1/1)

"Martin said you must come"

"I do not obey orders from Martin," she said "Or from you I obey the Alder his tongue "Muirwood is a bit far You usedof this other person e left"

"And you have toldto stand here bickering in the street for "

"I hate this city," he replied, his teeth clenching His look was full of loathing

"It will not take long before I share your sentiment Go on without me then But I will likely find Martin before you will After my errand is done"

He snorted, hands planted on his hips in frustration He glanced at her, as if judging whether he should simply truss her up and carry her to the docks "You are still li I cannot abandon you in a place like this"

"I can take care of rabbed aa cart The er "My pardon, good sir Where is Lambeth? What part of the city?"

"Oy, you are a rude sort!"

"Oy, where is Laer He seemed to take the other man’s te his shirt

The carter nodded towards the road ahead "Across the bridge In the Stews" He looked at Lia and his face twisted into a sickening smile – a leer "She will fetch a decent price Even with that awful tangle of hair The Stews, have at it, and leave ’s city Coirl raised in the shelter of Muirwood It was, Lia decided, the worst place in the world The streets were narrow and sliced this way and that, the buildings crammed and topped and then crammed and topped more until the roofs see from poles in the s to dry The streets were caked with filth and the air was rancid It was busy and violent Once she thought she saw a knight-h the crowd, but he covered his sith his hand to hide the insignia Just when Lia thought it could get no worse, they reached the bridge that straddled the hty river and crossed it into the Stews and Lia realized that life on the other side was even worse

In the Stews, everything was for sale and everything sought for a price Soold crowns for her hair Another wanted to pay for a kiss No one would direct the theer orb for direction The oppressiveness of the Stews hung so heavy that even the orb was sluggish in its response The Mediu it, as there were no Abbeys south of the river

"This is where some venture who do not want to be found," Kieran said, his face tight with revulsion "The Blight is already here You can feel it Coets worse after dark You irl I have been acquainted with the night forthe orb back in its pouch

He shook his head "Few mastons would dare it" She saw his eyes narrow back at theher arinally come, towards the mouth of the alley instead of deeper There were four er and mischief

Lia’s hand throbbed Her body beca fro that day "The other way is open, why are we approaching thehten us deeper into the alley where evenBetter odds with four than twenty"

"Oh," Lia said, asha like a hunter The men approached and she could see the apprehension on their face One of theave her a look that made her sto out his hand disarer in his other hand, a sht towards the her close to hi with fear "Let us pass We have no money save for the healer"

"She does look ill," the ht lay down" The others chuckled