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I was reaching for it when rated

Mychael all but fell into the roo white-hot with an unreleased spell Instead of whatever he expected to find, he saw a soaking wet, naked seeker holding a dagger and a towel

I clutched the towel in front me "What the hell?"

I didn’t knoas more stunned, him or me But I kneas h several shades of pink in search of a blush "You were shouting… The door was locked and you didn’t answer--"

"So you bleayup, probably a prelude to hysteria

Mychael’s blush turned into a paladin’s indignation "Yes, I bleay your door!"

"I was in the tub--" Iteeth

"I can see that" His voice had a rough edge--and his sea blue eyes were looking at where er betweenso towel, but it covered most of what needed to be covered

"I fell asleep in the tub," I said "Sarad Nukpana was in ht there" I pointed to the chair near the tub "Your kicking chased him off" I shivered with cold, and tried to s"

There was a coard burst into the room, his ax drawn

"Sir, we heard… Whoa!" He saw me and stopped dead in his tracks He looked from me to Mychael, then at the door--or as left of it "I’ll coard," Mychael told him "Wait for us at the end of the hall In the meantime, see that no one coone

"Bring a new door," I called after him I looked at Mychael "What do you mean, wait for us?"

In response, he pulled the blanket off my bed and crossed the room to me in three strides He held the blanket between us, and kept his eyes on aped up at hied at the corners of his mouth "You’ll need it to dry off I promise I won’t look"

I snorted "You’ve already seen everything"

"Yes, I have" He didn’t blush again, but the tips of his ears were pink--and his blue eyes had darkened

He averted those eyes and resolutely kept them that hile I dried off When I finished, he carefully wrapped the blanket around et dressed"

"That doesn’t sound good"

"It’s not"

Great First I got to be Sarad Nukpana’s tub toy; now Mychael had news so bad even he ad it

"The Seat of Twelve have requested to see you and Piaras Immediately"

I hadn’t been in this part of the citadel before It was less ly forard and Riston were a Maybe it was justsomewhere inside the citadel with that rim expression confirmed it

"Do you knohat kind of questions they’ll ask?" Piaras asked Mychael

Piaras’s voice was steady, but I knew the kid had to be shaking like a leaf inside He had absolutely no business being here The only fear he should be dealing with today was recital stage fright

"No, I don’t," Mychael said "But if any of their questions are for you, I’ll be responding to the?" I asked, though I had a sneaking suspicion as responsible

"Justinius’s secretary delivered the Twelve’s summons"

"Is that how it’s normally done?" I asked

"No Usually Justinius comes to see me himself"

I smelled a setup "Carnades will be there" I didn’t ask it as a question

"He will"

"Who’s that?" Piaras asked

"Carnades Silvanus is the senior ht the arche"

"He is," I told Piaras "Carnades is one step down" And that fact probably galled him every day of his life

It could just be a question-and-answer session, but with Carnades Silvanus there, he’d probably find some way to turn it into a witch hunt I knew Carnades had it in for me, but what I didn’t understand--and didn’t like one bit--hy the Twelve had asked to see Piaras When I was getting dressed, I added enough discreet steel tothe last dagger and didn’t say a word That toldinto