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“So coive soht smile “If you wishthe dagger from his belt The h rich with genuine ,” he said
“Does she give you naed “Sonise She called , once I quite like it”
“You know she sent you here to die?”
“Then I aaze with steady eyes, fearless, even proud, but still mostly just amused
“What did they do tohiht, thisfar from human
The Arisai’s grin turned into a ht theenerations they bred us, trained us, tried different bindings to make us the perfect killers It never worked, our forebears were either too wild or tooconstant supervision My generation was no different, yet another failure Ten thousand Arisai destined for execution, after they had bred us with suitable stock of course Then caes of cruelty, the discipline and cunning inherent in the soul of a true killer When she sent us here she told us ould be e”
“So,” Frentis mused, “there’s at least nine thousand more of you?”
For ain consternation like a child fu for an answer to an aard question “Not perfected after all,” Frentis observed, er poised at the base of his skull “What do you know of the Ally?”
Dog brightened oncewith a wry shake of his head “Only the promise she made us on his behalf the day she led us from the vaults; ‘All your drea, and had ain, father Please tell her I—”
Frentis thrust the dagger in up to the hilt, Dog the Arisai arching his back and convulsing before sluround “I’ll tell her,” Frentis assured hi, causing her finger to slip yet again, another spot of blood spreading across the taut fabric She regards the needle e; the flesh is like ice, devoid of pain The needlework is poor, a child’s fu to blaits, but this particular craft has always been beyond her The memory is dim, as are all her recollections of childhood, but there was a woman once A kindly wo skill, her fabrics adorned with a clarity and art that could ether, the wo her into a kiss when she did so at her frequent h for sohts continually shy away from the wo darker and she finds herself abed, whi as she stares at her bedrooaze to the balcony I have an exalted visitor to greet, lect her duties
Why? The thought is implacable, irresistible in its dees swirl and coalesce in her ht: fla, killing and dying with all the fury she expected One, ablaze fro and laughing even as the arrows slam home
I know you have nine thousand more, he tells her Where are they?
Her hands clutch the eh her, the wonderful resu their journey, the joyfulthe walls between the, faster and faster like a trapped beast raging at its cage Until now she had thought this shell incapable of all but theit to life
The gondola jerks to a halt outside the balcony and she gliht of her, causing her to wonder if jealousyfroirl’s gaze sweeps over Lieza tells her such suspicions are misplaced
Leave her be! he shouts in her ain I swear it