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We all sat around a banged-up metal table below deck The coal furnace filled the roo and hard to breathe I almost preferred the cold

I stripped out ofaround at those ere privy to this information Since we could only afford to share the details with those we kneithout a doubt--could be trusted, we e There were seven of us in all Aside from me and Max, there were Brook and Aron, Claude and Zafir, and Niko

"We’re going to try to draw the traitor out," said Niko "Once we reach the palace, we’re going to take you, along with a s We’ll slip away so that no one knoe’re gone, and hopefully when he tries to make contact with his--"

"Or her," Aron interrupted and everyone looked up at hi as if we’re certain the traitor is a man, as if it can’t possibly be a woman But Brook could just as easily be an assassin as she could be a soldier"

Brook grinned at Aron, taking his words as a coht," I admitted "It could just as easily be a woman"

Niko just shook his head "When the traitor tries to make contact with his or her," he a for you And when they get there"

Brook’s eyes widened "It’ll be a trap!" she exclai her fist enthusiastically on the rusted tabletop "I love it So which group do I get to be in? Please say trap, please say trap" She crossed her fingers on both hands, hoping to be part of the a his head, but it was Niko who answered "Sorry, Commander We need you to be with the queen and her family Their safety will still be of the utmost importance" I hated that I knehat he really meant: that Sabara’s safety was of the utmost importance

"I don’t get it," I said, wondering if I’d"Won’t they know I’?"

"No," Niko said, sounding ht he should "We’ll have a stand-in for you So to find souards?"

Niko signaled to Claude, who opened the door

We all watched silently, while the furnace continued to puirl stepped inside, and I frowned It was Avonlea

"She can’t," I started to say, realizing that Nikolike me No one would ever believe it"

She smiled then, a small slip of a smile that was almost a non-smile, as she reached for her hat When she pulled it off, her hair fell free Only it wasn’t her hair It was mine Silver-blond strands that spilled around her face