Page 88 (1/1)

"Duirl cried "People in the yard! Rexy told ’eet the hells out and they hit him! He’s bleedin’!"

Abruptly I was jostled as Duirl into the little alcove with o take care of ’eirl There wasn’t much room for her, but she was sed clothes "Lord Duic--"

Dump made a sound of annoyance and vanished

"Da If Dateh was a for me, or if they had another arrowhead irl, annoyed "Shove the dead guy, not me"

Dead, dead, uselessly dead I couldn’t say he hadn’t warned er before we attempted the escape So that I could leave hihts If the Lights didn’t find him, Shiny would return to life and make his oay in the city, however he’d done it beforeme If they did find hih for h, I knew I couldn’t do it As much as I wanted to hate Shiny for his self-absorption and his te, too For that alone, he deserved some loyalty

In theI had no way to reachto help, or better still…

My first thought was so repellent that I actually had trouble considering it I forced myself to do so, anyhow, because Shiny had said it hiod ould want to deal with his children’s killers Yet I also knew from my people’s history that Lord Nahadoth would not stop there Heout the entire city of Shadow, or perhaps the whole world He was already angry, and ere nothing to hi His betrayers and tormentors It would probably please him to see us all die

The Gray Lady, then She had been mortal and still showed some concern for riod--to get a god’s attention--one had to thoroughly understand that god’s nature I didn’t even know the Lady’s real nas I could think of, including Lady Neh about any of them

Then an idea came to odling whose nature was sih, that any h the Maelstroirl Muttering, she slipped out, and I crawled one-handed out into the open The girl started to crawl back in, but I caught her bony leg "Wait Is there anything around here like a stick? So" I started to lift both arly I finally approxiood arat me for a second or two; then she slipped out I waited, tense, hearing the sounds of battle in the distance--adult shouts, children’s screaly close That the fight had lasted this long with a godling involved hts, or Dateh had already gotten hi into my hand I felt it and sed at one end, but otherwise perfect

Now ca a deep breath to settleto find one feeling aer

"Lil," I whispered "Lady Lil, please hear hts upon her, framed her in my mind: not her appearance, but the feel of her presence, that loos held in precarious contain , unstoppable teeth What did it feel like to want as she did, constantly? How did it feel to crave so so powerfully that you could taste it?

Perhaps a little like the way I felt, knowing Madding was lost to me forever

I clenched my hand around the brooed end of it in the dirt and fought the urge to weep, to scream I wanted him back I wanted his killers dead I could not have the forrasp, if I could only find someone to help me Justice was so close I could taste it