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I reached for the door handle and opened it before Zafir could stop er than she had before, and I realized she was probably closer to e than I’d realized A timid smile found her lips as she lifted the tray in her hands "I thought you ht want to clean up" I could hear nuances of the salaise that Florence had spoken in Balanced on her tray were a s that looked as if they’d once been some sort of delicate lace, but were now frayed and threadbare

"Co her tiny fra so sure that the tray never even wobbled "You didn’t have to do that"

She nodded, and this time her almost-blue eyes rew as she set the tray on a battered chest of drawers "Florence’d killwater this way"

"Florence?" I asked, wondering at her use of his name "So he’s not your father?" I was even more curious about her than I’d been before

She shook her head abruptly, liainst her hollow cheeks "No"

She poured water from the pitcher to the bowl, and dipped one of the tattered cloths into it, wringing it gently I took it when she passed it to erly, and I knew she meant for rion’s floor, and then my neck and my hands While I worked, she picked up my cloak and shook it out, oblivious to the way hay and dust swirled in the air around us When she was finished, her hands brushed over the fabric, and I knew that she was feeling the sa I had the first time I’d touched it, that the fine wool that was so creamy it felt more like soft velvet

"Thank you for the water" I said at last, setting the rag aside and staring at the murky water that remained in the bowl "And thank you for dinner, it was delicious"

Her smile was back, earnest "Thank you, Your Majesty," she whispered, her voice subdued "For giving me a name"

the assassin

He waited until everyone around hione still There were still two soldiers on lookout, but it was easy to steal past the one of their own to break ranks Their concern was sier

Behind hiht rit But it was cold out here, away fro hiht

His eyes were quick to adjust, and soon he could see the path in front of him despite the fact that the moon was virtually nonexistent behind the thick black bank of clouds He was like a nocturnal predator, he thought slyly, his lips parting into a shrewd grin

He e, so he could look at the encampment below He wondered if they even realized how exposed they were down there How obvious and vulnerable they were He’d have to talk to Brooklynn about that when they stopped again the next night

Maybe it would earn hi at hih-pitched whistle that ca in the iveaway That was sort of the point