Ember (13 page)

A
s
t
h
i
eves
wen
t
,
Ba
si
m
was
no
t
pa
rti
cu
l
a
rl
y
l
a
r
ge
or
menac
i
ng.
In
f
ac
t
,
he
had
t
he
open,
p
l
eas
i
ng
exp
r
ess
i
on
of
a
Byzan
ti
ne
sa
i
n
t
.
Even
h
i
s
eyes
he
l
d
littl
e
gu
il
e.
A
n
i
ce
tri
ck,
A
r
che
r
mused,
and
one
t
ha
t
had
mos
t
li
ke
l
y
l
ed
many
a
man

to
his
d
ea
th
.
T
hos
e
l
a
rg
e
bro
w
n
e
y
e
s
w
e
r
e
on
Arch
e
r
now
,
holding
an
e
xpr
e
ssion
of
open
fri
e
ndship
as
h
e
r
e
count
e
d
wh
a
t
h
e
kn
e
w
of
Da
oud’s
d
ea
th
.
I
nd
ee
d
,
thos
e
e
y
e
s
w
e
r
e
at
pr
e
s
e
nt
try
i
ng
to
l
u
ll
Arch
e
r
into
b
e
li
e
ving
th
e
ma
n
only
w
a
nt
e
d
to
h
e
lp
Arch
e
r
,
th
a
t
h
e
h
a
d
no
r
ea
l
h
a
nd
in
foul
pl
a
y
this
ti
me.

Arch
e
r
kn
e
w
b
e
tt
e
r
.

“
Wha
t
d
i
d
you fi
nd
upon
t
he
body?
”
he
asked.

Basim’s
exp
r
ess
i
on
d
i
d
no
t
change.
“
A
b
illf
o
l
d,
a
hund
r
ed
pounds
Eng
li
sh
cu
rr
ency
w
it
h
i
n.
Go
l
d
pocke
t
wa
t
ch,
Eng
li
sh
made.
”
H
i
s
nose
w
ri
nk
l
ed
a
b
it
as
if
t
o
p
r
o
j
ec
t
h
i
s
d
i
sapp
r
ova
l
of
a
Mus
li
m
man d
r
ess
i
ng
up
i
n
Eng
li
sh
k
it
.

Da
oud
h
a
d
been
h
a
lf
-E
gypti
a
n
,
h
a
lf
-E
nglish
.
I
t
wa
s
a
lif
e
a
lw
a
ys
liv
e
d
on
th
e
outskirts
,
a
nd
on
e
Da
oud
h
a
d
struggl
e
d
to
find
his
pl
a
c
e
in
.
Sa
dn
e
ss
cl
e
nch
e
d
A
rch
e
r’s
ch
e
st
for
a
m
o
me
nt
.
H
is
fri
e
nd
h
a
d fin
a
lly
s
eeme
d
cont
e
nt
w
ith
his
lot
in
lif
e,
only
to
be
m
urd
e
r
e
d
soon
a
ft
e
r
.

“
Go
on,
”
he
said.

Ba
si
m
b
li
nked
up
at
h
i
m.
“
Go
on,
e
ff
e
ndi
?
Bu
t
t
ha
t
i
s
a
ll
.
”
The
co
r
ne
r
s
of
h
i
s
eyes
ti
gh
t
ened
a
fr
ac
ti
on.
I
t
was
a
ll
A
r
che
r
needed
t
o
see.

Arch
e
r
l
ea
n
e
d
in
,
using
his
consid
e
r
a
bl
e
h
e
ight
a
nd
bulk
to
inti
m
id
a
t
e.
“B
e
for
e,
I
m
ight
h
a
v
e
pl
a
y
e
d
this
g
ame
w
ith
you
.
But
I
am
tir
e
d
,
a
nd
I
w
ill
h
a
v
e
m
y a
nsw
e
rs
now
.
”
At
his
conf
e
ssion
,
th
e
thi
e
v
e
s
surrounding
hi
m
p
e
rk
e
d
up
,
as
if
his
st
a
ting
a
wea
kn
e
ss
wou
l
d
giv
e
th
em
an
a
dv
a
nt
a
g
e.
He
l
a
ugh
e
d
,
lo
w
a
nd
deep.

Basim’s
spin
e
str
a
ight
e
n
e
d
at
th
e
sound
.
B
e
hind
hi
m,
Ama
r’s
e
y
e
s n
a
rrow
e
d
.

“
Y
ou
h
a
v
e
n
o
i
dea
w
i
t
h
w
h
at
y
ou
p
l
a
y
.
”
A
r
c
h
e
r
’
s
h
a
n
d
moved
up
t
o
t
he
k
a
fiy
a
h
wound
a
r
ound
h
i
s
head.
He
l
e
t
t
he
c
l
o
t
h
s
li
p
t
o
r
evea
l
h
i
s
f
ace.