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"What?"

"Your Maroneh friend"

"My--" I started "You mean Shiny" So he hadn’t escaped Damnation

"Yes, whatever his naodling, too, given his intriguing ability to return from death But I’ve had hin of resistance, "

The s od you’re torturing, you bastard, but then I stopped What would Dateh do, if he knew he had the Bright Lord of Order as his prisoner? Would he even believe it? Or would he question Shiny--and be shocked to learn, as I had been, that Shiny loved the Nightlord and would disapprove of any action that threatened him? What would these madmen do then?

"Maybe he’s… like us," I said instead "A d-demon" It was hard to say the words

"No I did test him There are distinct properties that can be observed in the blood… Aside from his peculiar ability, he’s hed and did not see my start as I realized that hy they’d taken ical variants over the centuries I suppose he’s just another of those" Dateh paused, long enough for the silence to unnerve me further "This man lived with you in the city, I’uessed the ways in which I can make his brief periods of life unpleasant You are valuable to me; he is not Do we understand each other?"

I sed "Yes, Lord Dateh I understand you perfectly"

"Excellent I’ll have hih; after this much time in the Empty, he may require… assistance" I clenched my fists on my knees while he knocked on the door to be let out

But as he did so, soed

It was just a ined it For that instant, Dateh’s body looked wholly different Wrong I saw his nearer arm, curiously doubled as he rested it on the doorsill Two ar the se was gone Then the door opened, and so was Dateh

I slept I didn’t ic When I opened ht of sunset was thin and fading onthat time, which meant I’d slept hard; I was usually quick to wake at any untoward noise My visitors had been busy I found the furniture put back in place and a tray of food on the table The candles were gone when I checked, replaced by a single sn that I found odd--until I realized it held nothingmoistened wick No reservoir of oil that I could use for painting Other items in the room had been removed or replaced, too, ostensibly because they could have been used for their pige, as bland and textureless as they could’ve made it and kept it palatable And the air srief for , poor as it had been

I ate and then went to the ondering if I would ever escape frouessed that I had been imprisoned for five days,equinox All over the world, White Halls would deck theiven a special fuel to old The Halls would throw open their doors to all co days--and even noith sotheir faith, those Halls would be full Yet at the same time, in every city, there would be cerehtlord, too, and to the Lady That was soe to ain Three s, I realized, as they grunted and jostled the table and chairs out of the way The first object they put down squeaked faintly, and I realized it was another cot, like the one I slept on

The second object they put doas Shiny, duroaned once and then lay still

"A present frohed They left, and I hurried to Shiny’s side

His flesh was as cold as a corpse’s I had never felt hih to completely lose body te His breath came in harsh, quick pants They had cleaned hi the sleeveless white smock and pants of a new initiate But what had they bathed him in, ice water?