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Korvel could feel the motion of water beneath his feet, and frouessed they had been brought to a ship’s hold He also saw that the priest and hisfor you until the girl is set free"

"Then while ait, ill have to amuse ourselves" The priest nodded to one of the -handled bolt cutter and approached the pallet "Caesar, start with the toes rather than the fingers If she survives, she can cover up the stumps with her shoes"

Korvel knew he could reach either Caesar or the priest before they could hurt Simone, but not both "Leave her here with me, and I will translate the scroll" As the priest frowned, he added, "The sun is up If I am to stay conscious, I have to feed On her"

"Very well," the priest said as he removed the blade from Simone’s throat "You have until noon"

Simone waited until the last man had left the compartment and the sound of his footsteps faded before she opened her eyes Korvel stood beside the pallet, his hands tearing a strip of fabric froers, but the wounds from the copper net were only dark pink lines on his skin "You can’t translate the scroll for him"

"I don’t care about the bloody damn scroll" He folded the torn fabric into a square and knelt down to press it against the wound Pájaro had left on her neck, blotting it carefully before he bent close to examine it When she tried to work her hands free he said, "Be still Pretend I a into an ambush"

"I didn’t know Lechance had settled his debt to my father" She shook her head "You shouldn’t have followed me I can take care of myself"

He sat back on his heels "Yes, I can see that" He lifted his wrist to his ainst her wound "The cut is deep This will help it close"

A cool, tingling sensation erased the burning pain "Thank you, Captain" She wriggled one hand loose and went to work on the knot binding the other while she scanned the compartment "No portholes Have you tried the door?"

"It’s barricaded frouard in the corridor as well" He re her ankles and helped her sit up "This priest--Pájaro--he is calling himself Helada Why?"

"He believes he is, or that he will be, as soon as he kills ht-headed, she gripped the edge of the pallet to steady herself "My father trained Pájaro He deceived hi that he would become Helada by assassination"

Korvel lifted a hand for silence and went to listen at the door After someone walked past the compartment, he asked in a low voice, "Why did he deceive hi it to expose a long scar, until she saas looking at her "I fought hirown men, and anyone else ht for my life, until I went to live with the sisters" Shame as well as the dizziness and nauseawould only h it until it passed

Korvel found a dark woolen blanket and draped it over her, tucking it in around her shivering limbs before he brushed the hair back from her face "We have a few hours before they return Rest noill keep you safe"

"Don’t translate the scroll for him, Captain" She wrapped her hand around his wrist "Please There is no elixir, and once he knows the location, he’ll kill us both and go after it"

"After what?"

She closed her eyes "I can’t tell you"

Chapter 15

"L

ooks like two on the ra the access points to the hold," Nicola n of Korvel or the traitorous little bitch" "We do not know for a fact that she is a traitor" Gabriel handed her a pair of dark sunglasses before putting on his own "Korvelher to find the scroll"

"She’s a nun who’s having sex with him, and she lured hirabbed the too quick to judge When we’re done with the ht to play Pictionary"

"Be nice" He went back to the car and opened the boot, re before he returned "Do you want to wear the red beret or the Mickey Mouse ears?"