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There was a familiar horror in her voice when she interrupted et lost Oh, deets lost all the time He’ll try to find his way back here, and I have the purse, and--"

"It’s all right," I said with practiced coe the carved-wood sculptures, and pointed toward the far end of Art Row "If you want, I can recoet you there fast"

She would be too cheap for that, I suspected Her family could’ve been assaulted in that alley, robbed, transformed into rocks Was the risk really worth whatever rims neverdubious

"You’ll have to ask the guide Want me to call him over?"

"I…" She shifted fro of reluctance

"Or you could buy this," I suggested, turning smoothly in my chair to pick up a sod spots--places icked--Youdid this?"

"Probably I can’t see scriveners bothering, can you?"

She sighed "Will this map help ive her a look She took a long ti toit I didn’tIf she could learn Shadow’s convoluted streets that easily, interrupted on the od spot, then she deserved a free peek

"How much?" she asked at last, and reached for her purse

After the woeneral mill of the Promenade, Ohn arinned "Aren’t I? I could have told her to just go into the alley and lift her skirts a bit, which would’ve sent her to her fanity, didn’t I?"

Ohn shrugged "If they don’t think of it on their own, that’s their fault, not yours" He sighed after the woe and spend half of it wandering around lost, though"

"So I’d been sitting alland my back was sore "Keep an eye onfor a walk"

"Liar"

I grinned at the coarse, growly voice of Vuroy, another of the Row’s sellers, as he a an affectionate arm around Ohn They and Ru, another of the Row’s sellers, were a triple, and Vuroy was possessive "You just want to look in that alley, see if her duot ’em"

"Why would I do that?" I asked as sweetly as I could, though I couldn’t help laughing Ohn was barely holding in a snicker hi, be sure to share," he said

I blew a kiss in his direction "Finders keepers Unless you want to share Vuroy in return?"

"Finders keepers," he retorted, and I heard Vuroy laugh and pull hi on the tap-tap ofabout the sharing, of course, but there were still so around when she couldn’t have a little of it herself

The alley, across the wide Promenade from Art Roas easy to find, because its walls and floor shilow of the World Tree Nothing too bright; by godling standards, this waseven a ils and a fortune in activating ink Ordinarily, I would’ve seen littlethe od spot had been activated recently and would take time to fade back to its usual quiescence

I stopped at thecarefully The Promenade was a wide circle at the city’s relative heart, where foot traffic ether to encircle a broad plaza of flower beds, shade trees, and ays Pilgriather there, because the plaza offered the city’s best view of the World Tree--which was the saood mood to buy our wares after they’d had a chance to pray to their strange new god Still, ere alwayswalls and statue of Bright Itely over the plaza’s heretical goings-on The Order-Keepers weren’t as strict these days as they had once been; there were too ht take exception to their followers being persecuted Too ether in the city for them to police it all That still didn’t ht under their noses