He took a step back, startled to be addressed in that tone. m trying to save lives, in case you hadnt noticed.

in your rush to save lives you dont care if you shatter one or two? And they tell me Im not kind,Tris said flatly. name was Yali. She was a friend to Iralima, and she was taking care of Iralimas daughter.

Dont understand,Dema said wearily, rubbing his forehead.

Dont want to,Tris replied.

The door to the room where Yali lay opened. Keth emerged. His eyes were red and puffy with weeping. Chime stood on his shoulder, steadying herself by gripping his hair in her forepaws. She looked at Dema and hissed, spraying him with tiny glass pellets.

Agree,Tris said, glaring at Dema.

Keth ignored her. To Dema he said harshly, have to close Khapik. Before he kills anyone else. How does he come and go unseen, even in Achaya Square? I know the amrim patrol up there.

m going to see the Keepers of the Public Good today, to petition them to shut Khapik,replied Dema, leaning against the wall. He looked exhausted. for how. . .He grimaced. There are service and sewage tunnels throughout the city.

Keth said sarcastically. me guess. Nobody wants to see the prathmuni and servants at work.

Dema nodded. entire city is a giant sieve. It cant be guarded well, though Ill bet the Assembly authorizes the money for more guards. They ll have to pay a lot to get them into the sewers, and theyll have to have priests to cleanse them, or no one will do it. Even the arurim prathmuni refuse sewer duty. His voice, cracking with exhaustion, softened. Im sorry. My mind was going in six different directions. . . You were close?

Keth nodded. have to go home,he said. want them hearing it from me.

she work last night?asked Dema.

Tris replied softly.

know how it is for most of the street yaskedasi explained Keth. they dont work, they dont eat, they risk losing their lodgings. . . And Yali was clever. She wouldn t take risks.He looked at Tris. cant go back to Touchstone

She shook her head. ll go to Ferouzes with you,she said, thinking, Maybe I can do him some good.

After a moments hesitation, Keth nodded.

s get cleansed, then,said Dema, leading them to the priests. take your horses with you. Just have someone return them to Elya Street.

Tris endured it as the priests worked their cleansing with incense and prayers, her mind racing furiously. As they mounted their horses, she asked Dema, you think your Keepers will listen?

must.Dema gathered the reins and urged his horse to a trot down Noskemiou Way.

DEMA

A

s Dema trotted through Achaya Square, he saw that the priests of the All-Seeing had already erected cloth barriers around the defile d statue until it and its surroundings could be purified. They turned to watch him pass. Seeing their eyes on him, Dema remembered his own, slow process of cleansing at their hands a day and a night stolen from his hunt for the Ghost! and the priests complete lack of interest in the methods needed to trace a murderer. What if the Keepers of the Public Good ignored his arguments? When all was said and done, he was still an arurim dhaskoi of less than a years standing, without enough service to Tharios to give weight to his words. He must not waste a trip to Balance Hill or worse yet, waste the clan s bribe money. In theory the Keepers were duty-bound to hear any Tharian, but there was a great deal of difference between the ear of the Keepers when they were awake, and that of vexed, half-asleep Keepers. There was also a difference between the Keepers and their obligations, and the interests of those who served the Keepers.

It was the sight of Phakomathen, stabbing into the grey mists of rain that gave Dema an idea. The Keepers would have to listen to him if he came with support from Heskalifos, particularly those mages who attended the conference on visionary magics. He turned his mount aside, and rode to the university.

He arrived at the conference hall shortly before the midday break. He waited outside until the doors opened and mages of all races and nation alities spilled out, then strode through them into the hall. The morning s speakers were still on the dais, talking to one another and collecting their notes. One of them was Jumshida Dawnspeaker; another was Triss teacher, Niklaren Goldeye.

Jumshida smiled when she noticed him. Nomasdina, is it not?she asked, her rich voice friendly. you come to join us?

no,he said, nervous. ve come to beg you for help. The Ghost killed another yaskedasu last night another woman who lives in the same house as Kethlun Warder. Jumshida drew the circle of the All-Seeing on her forehead. Dema continued, m on my way to Balance Hill to speak to the Keepers. It was my hope that you would lend me your support.

Was it his imagination, or did she stiffen?

Fail to see what use I might be to the arurim, Jumshida said.

underestimate the honour you have in the city,Dema replied. are First Scholar of Mages Hall, Second Scholar of Heskalifos. You are responsible for bringing together the greatest vision mages of our time, to produce a work that will define vision magic for centuries.Children of the First Class also learned the art of flattery. One of their maxims was that bees went to sweet-smelling flowers, not earth-smelling mushrooms. would the Keepers not value anything you have to say?

Everyone but Goldeye left discreetly, watching Jumshida from the corners of their eyes. exactly, do you wish them to value from me?asked Jumshida, smoothing the folds of her mages stole.

Khapik must close until this monster is caught,replied Dema. He took a breath. that cleansing the site of a murder must wait until the arurim can trace every influence present.

sensible,Goldeye said tartly. cant believe this hasnt been raised before.

should the Keepers listen to any thoughts I might have on Khapik?asked Jumshida. you considered the serious hardship a closing would place on the shopkeepers and the yaskedasP. They exist day by day on their earnings. As for the other. . .She looked at Goldeye. dont understand, Niko. Killing destroyed the Kurchali emperors, with their mass executions and their gladiators fighting to the death on sacred days. Why else would the blood plague have begun here, where people bled to death through the very pores of their skins? It was a thousand years ago for you of the north, but it took us three centuries to recover from the disorder of those times.She turned a stern face to Dema. You are a Tharian, Demakos Nomasdina. You already know these things. It was the cleansing, and the banishment of pollution through death, which saved us from the chaos that followed the emperors.