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"… necessary There are signs…" Serymn She had come to see me before, I remembered Wasn’t that sweet? She cared "… ravelly voice rose and bobbed and dipped enough for h from Serymn "We’ll pause for a day or two, then"

More ain The rooed panting froely I listened to it for a while, but then his breathing slowed Caught once, resuain Stayed silent

The rooain Had they taken ain before Shiny could resurrect and tell ht, but deeper into it

I opened lanced over to see Shiny He lay on the cot, curled on his side, still shi and found that I had ed now, but I could ht across s, but the other wrist’s cuff had been left loose I easily slipped ain

I unbuckled myself and sat up slowly, cautiously There was an instant of dizziness and nausea, but it passed before I could fall ondeep breaths, becos Diaper around my hips, thankfully clean Slouched back Sore neck I lifted ot to my feet

The three steps from my cot to Shiny’s exhausteds He didn’t stir, but his breath tickled ers when I examined his face His broas furrowed, even in sleep There were new lines on his face, around his sunken eyes Not dead, but so had taken its toll on him He usually woke as soon as he cae

As I took ainst the cloth of his smock Cooled wetness startled me I touched, explored, and realized there was a wide patch of half-dried blood all down the lower half of his torso Pulling up his shirt, I explored his belly No wound now, but there had been a terrible one before

He stirred while I was touching hi rapidly I saw hihed and sat up beside ether, quiet, for a while

"I have an idea," I said "To escape Tell me if you think it ork" I told him, and he listened

"No," he said

I smiled "No, it won’t work? Or no, you’d rather kill me on purpose than by accident?"

He stood up abruptly and walked away from me I could see only a hazy outline of him as he went to the s and stood there His hands were clenched into fists, his shoulders high and tense

"No," he said "I doubt it ork But even if it does…" A shudder passed through hih I laughed "Oh, I see I’d forgotten that day in the park When you started this wholePrevit Rie from the injured arm "I remember the look on your face as you did it That whole tier, scared out ofthe chance to wield a bit of your old power"

He did not reply, but I was certain I had seen his s to be your old self again for so brief a ti left of you but… this" I gestured toward his fading back, letting ht of h you get a taste of it every , isn’t it? Maybe it would be easier if you didn’t have that little reid for a er in the usual pattern Always predictable, he was So satisfying

And then, all at once, his shoulders slurier So I said, "You’re a coward You’re afraid that it ork, but afterward it’ll be like the last time--you’ll be weaker than ever, unable even to defend yourself Useless"