Street Magic - By Tamora Pierce Page 0,22

a new." She raised her hand. "Or perhaps it is only a weak person who would do so."

Sajiv had no sense that someone had come up behind him until the silk cord dropped over his head and around his neck. He barely had the chance to gasp before the tall, hairless, fat man at his back yanked it tight. Thick muscles flexed under dark brown skin as the eunuch applied his strength; the cord bit deep, closing off the youth's windpipe. Sajiv weakened slowly, his burn-marked face passing from scarlet to blue to purple. His bowels let go at the end, filling the air with stench as their contents dripped through his trousers.

Through it all the lady sat gravely, unveiled, her eyes solemn. She did not even wrinkle her nose at the smell. When the eunuch let the boy's corpse drop to the tiles, she stood. "Dispose of that," she ordered. "Have these tiles taken up and new ones laid down. A different color would be nice – red, I think."

The man bowed to her. The traders who had made him a eunuch had also cut out his tongue, to get a higher price from wealthy people with secrets.

The lady patted his shoulder as if he were a dog. "You did well. Wash yourself before you enter my presence again." She walked into the house.

Evvy surprised Briar when she arrived in the morning. Not only was she clean from top to toe, but she had found another garment somewhere. It looked as if it had once been a well made linen shift: it had no sleeves, and there were tiny holes where thread would have held lace on the garment. It may have been white at one time, before too many washings in hard water with bad or no soap had turned it gray.

"Better?" Evvy demanded, glaring up into his face. She was bareheaded, her clean black hair sticking out at all angles. Briar suspected that she cut it herself, with a knife and no mirror.

"It's a start," he said, and drew her into the house. He pointed to the dining room table. Despite having only four hours' sleep after his late return from the Camelgut lair – two more victims had come as he'd been about to leave – Briar rose an hour after dawn. He'd gone to the local souk for secondhand clothes. They lay neatly folded on the table, beside a pair of sandals he'd guessed would fit her. "Go try that stuff on." He indicated the little pantry. "If you hurry, you can eat when you come out."

"Don't eat anything in there!" Briar called. Perhaps he should have asked her to change in a room where there were no jellies, preserved fruits and vegetables, onions, loaves of bread, and cheeses on the shelves.

"I'm not!" she yelled back.

She was back shortly, dressed in a clean, faded, pink cotton tunic that fit her perfectly, and beige leggings that were a bit too large. Briar blessed Sandry, Daja, and Tris, who had taught him about female clothing whether he wanted the lessons or not. When he saw that Evvy struggled to tie the pink and lavender headscarf properly, Briar took over, making sure her dreadful haircut was covered before he twisted the sides and tied the scarf in a proper Janaal knot in back. The scarf, being cotton, understood what he wanted. It settled easily into a snug grip on the girl's head.

The minute he finished, Evvy grabbed some food. "Sit," Briar ordered her. Evvy obeyed, figs in one hand, a piece of cheese in the other, and a slice of bread half in her mouth. Briar sighed. "We use plates," he informed her, putting one in front of her. "And cups, and knives."

"You'll spill," he said firmly when she squeaked. "I'd as soon you didn't do it on clean clothes, if it's all the same."

A stifled noise from the hall made him turn. Rosethorn, leaving for her next farmers' meeting, leaned against the door's frame. Her face was crimson from the effort it took to hold in sounds; she had stuffed her arm into her mouth to smother them. When he glared at her, she uncorked her mouth and straightened her sleeve.

"What's so funny?" Briar demanded crossly.

"You," Rosethorn said, snorting. "Teaching table manners. You!" She gasped and said, "Please – don't let me interrupt! I'll see you tonight!" Cackling, she left the house.

"Who was that?" Evvy asked through a bite of fig.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Briar