Ari and the shadow knight

Under M

shoulder blades and dro

outh. It tasted

y fingers clawed at the cracks between the wet paving stones, searching for anything I could u

beneath the guard's boot. I bit down hard enough to stop

s growled. "The little rat nearly

ed iron I had spent hours sharpening on a river stone, but it was mine. I had almost reached the docks

hind the salt-fish stalls after kicking over

ne m

him, the other merchants found something else to watch. Nobody in the Lower Ward was foolis

" another g

ful of my wet hair and

my eyes as

beneath a dark cloak that somehow stayed dry despite the downpour. A crumpled parchment

d to loo

se and mixed with the ra

e read quietly

my colla

hroat before his fingers did. His gaze

here," he said

hrough clenched teeth. "They were alread

n't even acknow

slipped it inside his cloa

e, I'll collect the cost of he

Capt

ed me ont

ists until the rough fibers bit into my skin. Every pull tighten

he market fo

wasn't

fe was

ets were

e helped had already d

turned and w

ov

me before I

ter them thro

ements leaned over narrow streets. Hungry children watched from broken win

ating the Lower Ward from t

rds posted along the walls didn't ask a single

d the moment I

to the smell of fresh bread and woodsmoke. Shop windows gleamed behind

ooked

he mud caked to my boots, and the ropes a

strates' courthous

htened in

g me to court, where

liffs of the Upper Ward, where a black

he rain i

r. A three-headed raptor clutche

that

l House

efore I could thi

getting i

behind m

't get a

ent me face-first

he door without a wo

. A thick carpet lined the fl

ttered. "Mud doesn't

t on the

grabbed my shoulder and threw me in

ed shut behind me with

as covered by a t

as the Great Lift shuddered beneath us. Massive gears gro

rain. The streets where I had spent my whole life grew smaller

er been t

and beeswax, but another s

bl

had soaked into the wood

ng, searching for so

g worth dying for. I ha

al guards ha

e city

l gu

accused me o

come for

sc

jagged mark near my throat

ould remember. Now strangers

ing to do wit

d come

aned one last time before s

e carriage lurche

led over timber. They rol

ched the U

through a pair of

m stood th

y wall looked untouched by smoke, soot, or d

riage s

it st

s echoed

tch cl

the carriage as t

stood there,

ut

d where

ng was

ower Ward stole a loaf of bread, they were beaten, fi

n't waste their

ck carriage bearing th

g people like me

hey wanted you to disappear somew

-