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Speaker 1: [electronic music]

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Speaker 1: Chapter Four: Collateral. From
Nikolai's Journal of Forbearance:

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Speaker 1: "Forbear emotions at your own peril.
All human cruelty starts

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Speaker 1: with forbearing emotions. There is no
good way to use this magic."

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Speaker 1: Mother Lysandra simply wished
everyone around her understood how painful it
was for

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Speaker 1: her to be here, how much she had
given to be a part of this arduous and

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Speaker 1: increasingly futile mission. She
tapped one of the couriers on the shoulder as
she

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Speaker 1: passed. "Have you seen the
Wellstone?" "No, ma'am." So she found a member
of

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Speaker 1: another house, House Greenside by the
look of the man's attire. An actual member of

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Speaker 1: House Greenside, too, not just a
representative. Not an important one, though,

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Speaker 1: because she didn't remember his name.
"Excuse me, uh..."

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Speaker 1: "It's Ulric, Mother." "Ulric, thank
you.

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Speaker 1: Ulric, have you seen the Wellstone?"
His eyes went right to her hair. Why did they

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Speaker 1: always look at the hair? It wasn't
her hair that was hurting. It was literally

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Speaker 1: everything else. "No, Mother, but I
can ask around."

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Speaker 1: [sighs] Lysandra closed her eyes

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Speaker 1: and took a slow breath. She searched
for a response befitting her station.

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Speaker 1: "Ulric, do you know of any other
Wellstones?"

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Speaker 1: He grinned at her as if she were in
on the joke. Wellstones were their only sources

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Speaker 1: of magical power in this plane. It
was being strictly rationed for both martial and

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Speaker 1: practical reasons. The gigantic
Wellstone they'd brought was a figurative
lifeline

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Speaker 1: for this delegation, but a very
literal lifeline for her. Ulric must have

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Speaker 1: access to other, smaller Wellstones.
He wouldn't give that information up without a

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Speaker 1: twist, though. Hence the smile. "I
would like to think on it,

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Speaker 1: Mother." [sighs] Composure.
Composure.

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Speaker 1: Keep it. "Please do so. Immediately."

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Speaker 1: Ulric looked around as if expecting
to be a part of some prank, and at any minute,

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Speaker 1: one of his friends would jump out and
surprise him. "You're serious?" Mother

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Speaker 1: Lysandra ground her teeth.

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Speaker 1: Little red sparks flew from her mouth
like a saw cutting through iron. Ulric's eyes

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Speaker 1: widened. That was one perk of being
Ethereal Planes Guard. People always assumed you

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Speaker 1: had supernatural abilities. She could
use that against him, and for the most part,

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Speaker 1: it wasn't true. She did have
supernatural weaknesses, though. Her body
depended on

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Speaker 1: magic to survive, and it was making
that known very clearly now.

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Speaker 1: "Do not make me stick you to the
floor and drain it out of your

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Speaker 1: very body, Ulric. Your back pocket.
Give it to me."

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Speaker 1: Ulric reached into his back pocket
with a shaking hand and gave her a small blue

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Speaker 1: rock. Lysandra could see the power
wafting off of it. Her body hungered for it.

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Speaker 1: She swiped the stone from the man's
hands and drank in the power. The pain eased at

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Speaker 1: once. A dozen years fell off her in a
moment.

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Speaker 1: [sighs] Ulric watched it

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Speaker 1: happen with a mix of annoyance and
awe. She put the emptied rock back into his

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Speaker 1: outstretched hands. "Thank you for
your donation to the House of Commons."

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Speaker 1: "Of course, Mother." She left him
standing there.

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Speaker 1: The recess was already over, and she
still needed to find the large Wellstone. She

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Speaker 1: couldn't keep shaking down nobles all
day. Someone jostled her as they jogged past.

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Speaker 1: She shouted at their back, "Excuse
you." A middle-aged man with dirty

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Speaker 1: blonde hair and tired eyes looked
back at her. The wraps around his hands
indicated

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Speaker 1: he was a Burstmage, not the kind of
person most people confronted. He was probably

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Speaker 1: used to others backing down when they
noticed those wraps. Mother Lysandra was not

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Speaker 1: most people. She pointed at the man,
who continued to jog away from her towards the

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Speaker 1: exit. "You, hold on."

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Speaker 1: The look in his eyes stopped her
short. This man was on edge. She watched him

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Speaker 1: leave the building. He leapt into the
back of a hay-filled wagon with three other

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Speaker 1: people. All of them had the same
wraps around their hands. All of them had that
same

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Speaker 1: determined, intense look on their
faces. Mother Lysandra watched a team of

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Speaker 1: horses pull the wagon away. She was
still standing there when the first gunshot rang

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Speaker 1: in the theater dome behind her. What?

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Speaker 1: Soldiers in black uniforms streamed
into the hallways outside the dome. Was this

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Speaker 1: security? What was happening? Ulrich
Greenfield spoke with a group of friends just

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Speaker 1: outside an entrance. He walked
towards the first soldier and pointed a stern
finger.

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Speaker 1: The soldier raised his gun and

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Speaker 1: Boom, boom, boom. Ulrich and his
friends fell to the ground. The entrance doors

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Speaker 1: behind Lysandra flew open. She spun
and sprayed a wave of grist across the opening.

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Speaker 1: It knocked the first soldier back out
the door and sealed the other doors. She

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Speaker 1: dropped to the ground and sprayed a
short wall of grist between her and the soldiers

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Speaker 1: who'd shot Ulrich. Bullets sunk into
the black substance as a pitter-patter of wet

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Speaker 1: thuds. They were shooting at her.
They were shooting at her. By the

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Speaker 1: Original's grace, she was going to
die. She was going to die. A soldier tried to

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Speaker 1: crawl under the hardening grist she'd
sprayed across the door. She kicked him once

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Speaker 1: in the face, then raised her hands
and covered him in a torrent of liquid black

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Speaker 1: rock. He flailed on the ground as it
entombed him.

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Speaker 1: Bullets bounced off the wall above
her head, and Mother Lysandra ducked back behind

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Speaker 1: her wall. More bullets hit the low
wall, sending chunks of grist flying as the

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Speaker 1: soldiers already inside the building
advanced on her exposed position. She huddled

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Speaker 1: against the ground. It was only a
matter of time. This couldn't be happening. It
was

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Speaker 1: so senseless, such a pointless way to
die. She should never have come here,

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Speaker 1: should never have tried to make
peace. That only she seemed to want. Mother
Lysandra

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Speaker 1: wrapped her arms around her shoulders
and waited for the soldiers to come. Killing

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Speaker 1: them wouldn't save her. If she
surrendered, perhaps they would take her
prisoner.

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Speaker 1: Did she want that? What was it like
to be a prisoner of war? Not good, surely. A

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Speaker 1: warped scream shook her from the dark
fantasy still forming in her mind. The bullets

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Speaker 1: had stopped, but the guns were still
firing. Tentatively, she peeked over the grist

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Speaker 1: barrier. A man in shredded clothing
crawled along the wall towards the soldiers. His

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Speaker 1: skin was chalk white, his eyes a
solid bloody red. The man leapt from the wall
into

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Speaker 1: the group of soldiers. Their bullets
went right through him, but he didn't seem to

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Speaker 1: feel them. He tore the arm off a
soldier like a child tearing apart a toy. Bones

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Speaker 1: broke and people went flying,
slamming into the brick walls with a crunch. The
demon

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Speaker 1: spun, noticed her, and took a few
running steps towards Lysandra, murder in its

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Speaker 1: eyes. Lysandra was very careful not
to move quickly. Ymir, Ymir,

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Speaker 1: it's me. You know me. She raised her
hands, palms out, placating.

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Speaker 1: You know me. I'm Lysandra. The demon
stopped, its head twitching in the

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Speaker 1: fight for control. The bullet holes
on his bare chest healed in the short time it

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Speaker 1: took him to speak. Lysandra, we need
to run. There are too many

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Speaker 1: soldiers. Where are the others?
Others?

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Speaker 1: Mother Trista, Father Katar, where
are they? Dead. We need to go.

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Speaker 1: Now. As if to emphasize his point,
gunshots sounded again in the dome next door,

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Speaker 1: much closer. Lysandra jogged over to
him on shaking legs. Soldiers were beating down

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Speaker 1: the entrance doors behind her.
Where's the wellstone? I don't know.

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Speaker 1: Father Ymir brought his elongated
pale hands to his face and covered his eyes. We

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Speaker 1: were betrayed. Mother Lysandra placed
a hand on his back, and he shivered. Come.

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Speaker 1: He followed her into an
administrative office near the entrance. She did
her best to

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Speaker 1: barricade the door with grist. Then,
for good measure, she used a piece of chalk to

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Speaker 1: draw a rune of repulsion on the
floor, then stepped back. It was dark in the
office

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Speaker 1: with the windows and door sealed. How
long would this defense hold, though? I am

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Speaker 1: Ymir. I am Ymir. I am Ymir. Lysandra
folded her

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Speaker 1: hands and paced around the dark room,
uncertain what to do next.

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Speaker 1: Why? Why? And something else nagged
at her. Those burst

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Speaker 1: mages in the wagon. Were they part of
this, somehow? What was in that

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Speaker 1: wagon? Surely not hay. Realization
crept into her mind then.

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Speaker 1: Cold, terrifying realization. Ymir,
we're in danger.

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Speaker 1: He was still gasping for air. I know.
No. Not just us.

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Speaker 1: Everyone. The whole city. What?

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Speaker 1: Just before the soldiers attacked, I
saw four burst mages leaving. I think they took

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Speaker 1: the wellstone, Ymir. I think they
took the wellstone.

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Speaker 1: He was silent while gears turned in
his mind. A moment later, he had connected the

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Speaker 1: same dots. Oh, no. You don't think We
need to get out of here.

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Speaker 1: Somehow. We can stop it. Lys We have
to! She would

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Speaker 1: not be complicit in this mass murder.
Whether these soldiers were attacking in

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Speaker 1: response to their betrayal, or simply
attacking out of a betrayal of their own, she

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Speaker 1: didn't know, and it didn't matter.
The ulterior motives of the peace talks were

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Speaker 1: becoming clear now. It had never been
about peace. It hadn't even been lip service

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Speaker 1: to peace. Somewhere in this city was
a bomb. The largest bomb she could

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Speaker 1: conceive of. Attended by four people
who, now that she understood, knew

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Speaker 1: they were going to die. If there was
any hope at all for peace, she would need to

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Speaker 1: escape this place, find the bomb, and
somehow save the lives of the people who had

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Speaker 1: murdered her friends. This could have
all been so much easier if only they had all

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Speaker 1: been willing to listen. "Ymir, I'm
sorry, but I need you to change back

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Speaker 1: again." And then she heard a
shuffling sound inside the room. She walked
around the

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Speaker 1: small office looking for the source.
In the meek light cast by her glowing hair, she

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Speaker 1: searched the room. Hiding underneath
a desk was a man in robes. Mayor Rex

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Speaker 1: Cobbler shrank away from her,
wrapping his arms around his legs. "I'm

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Speaker 1: guessing you heard all of that,
right?" Rex nodded slowly. "Are you

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Speaker 1: going to kill me now?" "Of course
not. I'm not a monster." Father

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Speaker 1: Ymir squatted down beside her. "I am,
sometimes."

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Speaker 1: "Mr. Mayor, you're going to help us
get out of here."

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Speaker 1: Chapter Five: Apprentice of Burdens.
From Nikolai's Journal of Forbearance, page

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Speaker 1: twenty-one. On a more practical note,
if you forbear digestion, be

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Speaker 1: prepared for extra debt when you
release it. A good novel and some laxative can
be

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Speaker 1: invaluable tools of magic. Kelsey
dragged the stranger up the final step.

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Speaker 1: He was leaking something onto the
stoop. She just hoped no one was around to see

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Speaker 1: this. Some things you just couldn't
talk yourself out of. Xavier unlocked the door

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Speaker 1: and helped her pull the man in.
Fortunately, they had been close to Brown
Street,

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Speaker 1: and no one had seen them. Probably.
What were they doing? This

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Speaker 1: was supposed to be their night out.
She'd planned it weeks ago with Maria. Where

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Speaker 1: this night was going next was
anybody's guess. Xavier wanted to play hero with
the

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Speaker 1: enemy, though. Kindness truly was his
weakness. As much as she

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Speaker 1: hated this idea, there was no way she
was letting him do it alone. "Come on. We'll

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Speaker 1: put him in my room." Xavier's room
was on the ground floor. She lifted the stranger

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Speaker 1: into a wicker chair in his room.
Given the smell of the man, they'd both
wordlessly

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Speaker 1: agreed not to put him on the bed.
They had barely finished hauling him into the

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Speaker 1: chair when there was a polite knock
on the door. Miss Maria pushed open the door.

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Speaker 1: "Back already?" And then her jaw
dropped. Xavier and

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Speaker 1: Kelsey took turns wiping their hands
off on their clothes. "Oh, dear Lord.

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Speaker 1: Who is that?" "I am Father Nikolai
Common of the House of Commons,

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Speaker 1: Master of Burdens." Maria looked at
Kelsey first. The

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Speaker 1: expression stung. Somehow, in a
single glance, she'd been able to say,

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Speaker 1: "I expected this from him, but not
you." "Hey, Maria." "When I

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Speaker 1: said do something stupid, this is not
what I meant." "Sorry." "He's a

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Speaker 1: magician?" "I am, my lady." Kelsey
and Xavier sat on

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Speaker 1: the bed. She wasn't sure how to
explain this. Actually, she wasn't even going to

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Speaker 1: try. "He needed help." "I should say
so, but why did you bring him

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Speaker 1: here?" "I couldn't think of anywhere
else." "Sorry to

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Speaker 1: interrupt, but you two need to
decontaminate immediately." "You said it was
safe to

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Speaker 1: touch you." "Safe is a relative term.
There were people with guns running about

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Speaker 1: then. Unless you want to look like
me, you should bathe in vinegar. Burn those

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Speaker 1: clothes as well." "You brought him
here, Xavier?" Xavier

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Speaker 1: deflated some. It wasn't all his
fault. Just mostly his fault.

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Speaker 1: "I'm sorry, Maria. They were going to
kill him. I just couldn't

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Speaker 1: leave him." "Also, my case of magical
diseases was stolen. These

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Speaker 1: two offered to go find it for me."
"I- I need to sit.

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Speaker 1: Is it even safe to be in here?" "As
long as you don't breathe near me,

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Speaker 1: probably."

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Speaker 1: Maria sat down in the rocking chair
across the room. She rocked slowly back and

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Speaker 1: forth, though the stunned look still
hadn't left her face. Kelsey wiped a bit of

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Speaker 1: black slime off onto her dress.
Great. Father Nikolai pulled the

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Speaker 1: mask off his face with one hand. His
face was nearly as misshapen as the

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Speaker 1: rest of him, though the scar tissue
looked old. He looked at them from under a

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Speaker 1: swollen eyelid with one pale blue
eye. Part of his face was still covered in those

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Speaker 1: blue crystals. The four of them sat
in awkward silence for a moment, taking in this

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Speaker 1: new display. The weight of what was
happening to her still sank in. This man was an

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Speaker 1: enemy magician. Kelsey didn't know if
there were laws against hiding him, but there

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Speaker 1: had to be, right? So instead of
coming at that issue head-on, she did what she

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Speaker 1: always did when she was making a sale
at work. Whether you were selling fabric or

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Speaker 1: interrogating the enemy, the concepts
were roughly the same. She started with

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Speaker 1: smaller talk, actually tried to
understand the other person before putting the

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Speaker 1: squeeze on them. "You said 'father.'
Are you a priest?" "No,

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Speaker 1: not that kind of father." "Do you
have children?" "Alas,

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Speaker 1: I have none. I don't mean to sound
piteous, but as of yet, the opposite sex

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Speaker 1: remains as much a mystery to me as it
always has." He waved at his disfigured

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Speaker 1: body. "And between us, I don't think
my odds of mating have improved today."

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Speaker 1: "Sorry, I wasn't trying to make you
feel bad. I'm sure there's someone..."

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00:18:11.940 --> 00:18:17.260
Speaker 1: Kelsey looked down at his legs and
grimaced. They had begun to shrivel and turn

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Speaker 1: black, rolling up on themselves. I'm
sure there's someone out there for

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Speaker 1: you. Nikolai grinned. I hope not. If
it's true,

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Speaker 1: I shall continue to evade them.
Kelsey shook her head. What a strange man.

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Speaker 1: Were all the people of the other
planes so strange? Nikolai was frightening, but
he

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Speaker 1: didn't seem evil. In his own way, he
was kind of adorable. The tip of

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Speaker 1: Father Nikolai's nose fell off. It
bounced on the floor and rolled to her feet. Oh

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Speaker 1: dear. Let's get your mask back on.
Once the two of them had

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Speaker 1: finished decontaminating, they
returned to Xavier's room. Father Nikolai
insisted

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Speaker 1: that they could simply pour the
vinegar over him. He didn't want to be a bother.
It

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Speaker 1: did help the smell, a little.

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Speaker 1: The three of them drank tea while
Father Nikolai sat propped up in the chair,
still

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Speaker 1: dripping vinegar onto the wood floor.
Are you sure we can't help you somehow?

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Speaker 1: The best thing you can do for me also
happens to be the best thing you can do for

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Speaker 1: the city of Everton. Beautiful city,
by the way. Be careful of the alleyways,

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00:19:35.580 --> 00:19:40.840
Speaker 1: though. Rough part of town. Can you
help us find your case?

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Speaker 1: Hmm.

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Speaker 1: Start by contacting my peers in the
House of Commons. The rest of my delegation are

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Speaker 1: all staying at the theater dome.
Contact them directly. They'll know what to do.

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Speaker 1: Now that sounded like something they
could handle. She walked towards the door.

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Speaker 1: Kelsey was ready to be on with it.
The sooner they untangled from this, the better.

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Speaker 1: At least the night's entertainment
had come cheap so far. Come on, X.

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Speaker 1: Wait. He stayed on the bed, a pensive
look on his face. Where was this

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Speaker 1: going?

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Speaker 1: Can you teach me magic? Kelsey
slapped her forehead.

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Speaker 1: Seriously? Was he nineteen or nine?
Sometimes it was hard to tell.

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Speaker 1: No more than I can teach you to fly.
Can you?

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Speaker 1: Fantastic question. An acceleromancer
could, but I am not that kind of mage.

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Speaker 1: I deal in burdens. The most
mysterious and most

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Speaker 1: underutilized of magics.

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Speaker 1: He waved one hand in an arc. Kelsey
guessed that was supposed to add mystery.

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Speaker 1: But no, I cannot teach you any magic
because you cannot do magic. It is the hand of

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Speaker 1: fate that deals those cards. You must
be magical plane-scarred. Born on the right

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Speaker 1: plane, that is. Xavier bowed his head
in defeat. Kelsey elbowed him.

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Speaker 1: Ah, cheer up, you've still got me. He
gave her a lopsided grin. Guess I'll have to

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Speaker 1: settle for that.

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Speaker 1: Maria stopped rocking in the chair
behind them.

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Speaker 1: That might not be necessarily true.
They all

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Speaker 1: turned to look at her. Xavier, your
mother worked here for only a few

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Speaker 1: months before she died. You were
nearly three by then, and, well, I never

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Speaker 1: told you the rest of the story.
Xavier glanced at Kelsey and grabbed her hand,

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Speaker 1: sensing that something with real
impact was coming.

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Speaker 1: You were living here. She was
pregnant, but died in childbirth.

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Speaker 1: You should have had a little sister.
Half-sister, I suspect. Before she came here,

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Speaker 1: your mother did the kind of work,
well, the kind of work she had to in order to

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Speaker 1: survive. I won't dirty her name with
it. But suffice to say, she was running

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Speaker 1: from someone. She ran an entire plane
to get away from him.

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Speaker 1: Away from your father. I don't know
who he was. She never told me. But he was

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Speaker 1: someone who could not allow you to
continue living.

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Speaker 1: Xavier had confided that he'd always
wondered about his father. Every orphan did,

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00:22:46.600 --> 00:22:52.280
Speaker 1: probably. He never talked about
trying to find him, though. Would that change
now?

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Speaker 1: Xavier got up and stood over Maria,
his face difficult to read. She looked up at

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Speaker 1: him, stoically. Then he leaned down
and embraced her. I did keep

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Speaker 1: living, though. And I'm going to keep
on living. Then he spun to face Nikolai.

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Speaker 1: So does this mean... And even though
she knew it was foolish, and incredibly

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Speaker 1: selfish, Kelsey couldn't help but
feel jealous, if only a little.

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Speaker 1: Father Nikolai tried to sit up in his
chair. If you are a magician, then I

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Speaker 1: shall name you Apprentice of Burdens.
Xavier seemed to

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00:23:35.020 --> 00:23:40.120
Speaker 1: expand upon hearing the words,
pulling his shoulders back and rising to his
full

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Speaker 1: height, lifted an inch higher by a
purpose he hadn't known he'd needed. Nikolai

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Speaker 1: pointed at Kelsey next. How about
you? Do you have some secret parentage as well?

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Speaker 1: Nope. Then I name you Apprentice to
the Apprentice of Burdens.

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00:23:59.340 --> 00:24:04.800
Speaker 1: No, just Kelsey's fine. In that case,
I name you Kelsey.

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Speaker 1: Thanks. You are very welcome. Now, if
you will all excuse

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Speaker 1: me, I have some debts to pay back,
and I believe I will lose consciousness. Miss

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Speaker 1: Maria shooed them all from the room.
Go. Be careful. If there's trouble,

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Speaker 1: you run. And do not bring back more
like him. Kelsey grabbed

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Speaker 1: Maria's arm before she could close
the door. Wait. I need to know.

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Speaker 1: Was that story about Xavier true?
Maria gave her the faintest of smiles.

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00:24:42.800 --> 00:24:48.320
Speaker 1: Xavier was on the street below.
Xavier was already on the street outside, just
out

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Speaker 1: of earshot. The story was true, yes,
but the implication?

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Speaker 1: I don't know where he was born, but
let him have this. That boy needs a dream.