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Crawling out the , he wondered, If all the scrying-ht—why is Aymery’s still whole?

It wasn’t long before everyone went to bed Niko stayed at Discipline, dozing off in a big chair padded with blankets and cushions Even Little Bear was sound asleep, on his back with his paws in the air, in front of the cottage altar He hadn’t so much as stirred when everyone came in from the baths

Tris was the last child to go to bed, saying good night to Ayot his last meal of the day She had put bed off, partly because she disliked the thought of that steep cli to Aymery talk of his university studies; to her relief, he hadn’tto see her father after that first conversation Partly it was the thick fog that now pressed against the cottage,down the road fro She wanted to be out, walking in the ed to come to her

And if they throw ? she wondered as she hauled herself over the last step and onto the attic floor A fine thing, to be out in the open and have one of those things drop on you!

She looked up at the planks that hid the thatch over their heads Hoell s? Certainly not as well as the deck of the galley that had been struck by one that

Shurri Fire-Sword, defend us, she thought, hurrying to her room Trader and Bookkeeper, Trickster, I don’t care who, keep those things off us!

“You took long enough,” Briar said from the shadows by her

For a ht she would faint Groping one-handed, she found her empty washbasin nearby and threw it at him

He ducked The basin clanged to the floor

“Tris?” Lark called tiredly from downstairs

“Sorry!” she yelled

Briar picked up the basin, exa it “Now you have a dent”

“I ought to dent you,” she hissed

“You tried” White teeth flashed in the gloom “You missed”

Tris gently placed her nestling, who hadn’t soher steel and flint, she lit a candle with hands that shook “How did you sneak in here?” she de her voice down

He yawned and pointed out theTris understood She had left this roo onto pillows that were conveniently placed on the roof of Rosethorn’s workshop, then ju like her could do that, someone like Briar could easily climb up “Aren’t you too tired for this?”

“What I had to tell you can’t wait”

“I say it can Get out”

“Listen, Coppercurls—your cousin’s as wrong as they corownups need their rest”

For a usted around the rooers around the nest to hold it still and finally squeaked, “How dare you! How—”

His eyes met hers; the words dried to ash in herthe earthquake, and they’d watched clouds get born together She’d only just started to teach him to read, but she could tell already that he would love it asoff a wall only that

“Please say you’re joking,” she whispered, and sat heavily on the bed

Now that she had calmed down, he sat beside her and told her what he’d found “Where’s he getting his s he’s got on a student’s allowance—”

“Hoould you know about student allowances?” she asked, trying to braid her unruly hair The air was gusting again, plucking locks from her hands

“I learned awful quick it’s not worth the trouble to pick their pockets,” he said The hair on the back of his neck prickled There wasup “They hardly ever have two coppers to rub together—if they have anything, they spend it on books” When she made no comment, he went on, “From what you say about your family, they won’t pay extra e, till after he’s shohat he’s good for So where’s he getting his money? And maybe he says he came to study for weeks, but he didn’t pack like it”

“He could have left his other things in storage at the guesthouse” Tris spoke dully, trying to reject what he was saying Her heart thudded Her skin prickled, tingling At that s, for sounding so sure

“I bet it was him that I saw on the Hub staircase, with the invisibility spell—but as he there? I bet whatever blew up the stuff in the seeing-place, he put it there”

“You never saw a face It could’ve been soht to Niko, or to Rosethorn? The tickling along her skin got hotter Now she could feel her pulse banging in the veins of her neck

“Why sneak into the kitchens?” Briar wanted to know

“Don’t tell me Gorse would notice everybody in that madhouse today”

“But Gorse does He—” Briar glanced at theand froze

A thin, three-fingered brand of lightning felt its way along theledge like a hand that searched for a place to grip The scent of charred wood drifted on the air They could see black streaks where the lightning touched the wood

Briar seized Tris’s arm “Get hold of yourself!” he whispered

Tris shook Briar off and went to stand before theIt wasn’t really lightning, exactly—just a thread of it She stretched out a hand

“Don’t!” Briar hissed, too frightened to move “Tris—”

The gold, skeleton arers touched hers Tris felt the brush of white-hot light, as if soan to rise

The lightning folded in on itself, rolling out the

Briar put his head on his hands “If I had a ht now,” hesmall?”

Tris brushed the fingers the lightning had touched against one cheek They arhtning had been so beautiful It didn’t hurt her feelings It didn’t tell lies It was above everything ugly People didn’t matter to it

She wished that people didn’t matter to her “Aymery isn’t what you think”

“Neither are you,” he ht—Little Bear will let us know if Ay this place in But coot to tell I think your wondrous cousin’s working for the pirates” He padded out of the room

Not Ay herself back on the bed Not him

She’d been having daydrea the fa her in to be his assistant, or apprentice, or sos, her faht, that they had done Tris a wrong when they got rid of her They would want to make amends They would want her back

She wished the lightning would return and touch her again

Her eyes burned, but it was i already It was only seven in the evening: If the fog hadn’t set in, there would still be light in the sky It didn’ther eyes with her arm, Tris slept

The Hub clock was chian to wake By the tih the h, Tris sat up Disgusted, she realized that she’d gone to sleep in her dress and s

tockings Everything was hopelessly rumpled About to undress, she heard a creak downstairs If someone else was up, o back to sleep For one thing, she was hungry

Gathering up her spectacles, she padded out into the attic and over to the opening where the stair pierced the floor She walked softly, to keep fro the other sleepers in the house

The person downstairs was being very quiet He— or she—was also in the dark; there was no sign of lamp or candle

Another soft creak, and twotoward her One last thuh the back door next to the stair

As quickly as she dared, Tris climbed down the ladder and peered outside A dark shape vanished into the dark fog, walking through Rosethorn’s garden

It’s hiical voice said

Tris jumped and whirled Briar was behind her