Logen stared across the fire at Ferro. The very last place he'd ever have hoped to get a good word. Out of all of them, only she'd seen it happen. Only she knew what he really meant. And still she'd spoken up for him. She saw him looking, and she scowled and shrank back into her corner, but that didn't change anything. He felt himself smile.

'What about you, then?' Bayaz was looking at Ferro as well, touching one finger to his lip as though thinking.

'What about me?'

'You say you don't like secrets. We have all spoken of our scars. I bored the group with my old stories, and the Bloody-Nine thrilled us with his.' The Magus tapped his bony face, full of hard shadows from the fire. 'How did you get yours?'

A pause. 'I bet you made whoever gave you that suffer, eh?' said Luthar, a trace of laughter in his voice.

Longfoot started to chuckle. 'Oh indeed! I daresay he came to a sharp end! I dread to think of the—'

'I did it,' said Ferro.

Such laughter as there was sputtered and died, the smiles faded as they took that in. 'Eh?' said Logen.

'What, pink, you fucking deaf? I did it to myself.'

'Why?'

'Hah!' she barked, glaring at him across the fire. 'You don't know what it is, to be owned! When I was twelve years old I was sold to a man called Susman.' And she spat on the ground and snarled something in her own tongue. Logen didn't reckon it was a compliment. 'He owned a place where girls were trained, then sold on at a profit.'

'Trained to do what?' asked Luthar.

'What do you think, fool? To fuck.'

'Ah,' he squeaked, swallowing and looking at the ground again.

'Two years I was there. Two years, before I stole a knife. I did not know then, how to kill. So I hurt my owner the best way I could. I cut myself, right to the bone. By the time they got the blade away from me I had cut my price down to a quarter.' She grinned fiercely at the fire as if it had been her proudest day. 'You should have heard him squeal, the bastard!'

Logen stared. Longfoot gaped. Even the First of the Magi looked shocked. 'You scarred yourself?'

'What of it?' Silence again. The wind blew up and swirled around inside the ruin, hissing in the chinks between the stones and making the flames flicker and dance. No one had much left to say after that.

Furious

Furious

« ^ »

The snow drifted down, white specks swirling in the empty air beyond the cliffs edge, turning the green pines, the black rocks, the brown river below into grey ghosts.