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"A squirrel, Your Grace," the priest said "We captured it"

"Go and fetch it for me"

"Your Grace, it’s quite wild and--" He stopped, recognizing the look in Lightsong’s eyes, then waved for a servant

"No," Lightsong said "Not a servant You go and get it personally" The priest looked incredulous

"Yes, yes," Lightsong said, waving hinity Perhaps you should think about converting to Austris

"The rest of you," Lightsong said, addressing his own servants and priests "You wait here"

They looked resigned Perhaps they were growing accustohtsong said, walking toward the first group he had sent off onto the lawn--the two guards Llari strides over to the twosaid to the two, out of earshot of the others, "tellto be a uards said "He sauntered out of the shadows, ot close enough, he knocked us both out"

"How?" Lightsong asked

"He grabbed me around the neck with tassels from his Awakened coat," one of the men said He nodded to his companion "Knocked him in the stouard raised his shirt to show a large bruise on his sto another one on his neck

"Choked us both," the first guard said "Me with those tassels, Fran with a boot on his neck That’s the last thing we knew By the tihtsong said, "but didn’t kill you Just enough to knock you out?"

"That’s right, Your Grace," the guard said

"Please describe this uard said "Had a scraggly beard Not too long, but not trimmed either"

"He wasn’t smelly or dirty," the other said "He just didn’t see--ca while"

"Wore ragged clothing," the first said "Patched in places, nothing bright, but not really dark either Just kind ofbland Rather un-Hallandren, now that I think on it"

"And he was ar said

"With the sword that hitblade,Had it hidden under his cloak, and ould have seen it, if he hadn’t covered it up by walking so oddly"

Lightsong nodded "Thank you Stay here"

With that, he turned and walked toward the second group

"This is very interesting, Your Grace," Llarimar said "But I really don’t see the point"

"I’ said

"Excuse me, Your Grace," Llarimar said "But you’re not really the curious type"

Lightsong continued walking The things he was doing, he didThey just felt natural He approached the next group "You were the ones who saw the intruder in the hallway, right?" Lightsong said to thelance back at Mercystar’s palace The lawn in front of it was noith a colorful assort’s own

"Tellsaid

"We alking through the servants’ hallway," one said "We’d been released for the evening, and were going to go out into the city to a nearby tavern"

"Thenso there"

"Describe hiand a beard Kind of dirty-looking"

"No," another said "The clothing was old, but thenodded "Continue"

"Well, there isn’t much to say," one of the men said "He attacked us Threw an Awakened rope at poor Taff, who got tied up immediately Rariv and I ran for help Lolan stayed behind"

Lightsong looked at the third man "You stayed back? Why?"

"To help Taff, of course," the ht Looks too nervous "Really?" he said, stepping closer

The man looked down "Well, mostly I ht," another said "He threord at us Strangest thing"

"He didn’t draw it?" Lightsong asked "He threw it?"

The men shook their heads "He threw it at us, sheath and all Lolan picked it up"

"I thought I’d fight hi said "So you two left?"

"Yeah," one of thearound that blasted squirrel--we found Lolan on the ground, unconscious, and poor Taffwell, he was still tied up, though the rope wasn’t Awakened anyh"

"You saw hi his hands up in denial He had--Lightsong noticed--a ban dage on one hand "The intruder knocked me out with a fist to the head"

"But you had the sword," Lightsong said