Leaving tbounded quarter of Belisaere proved to be a more difficult business tering it, particularly t to a long-abandoned street of derelict oy.

    t t and efficient toucone ing to be let tten in to a broad-bladed axe. Most of t, deeply curved boheir backs.

    “oucone. “ into t of ty?”

    “Scavengers,” replied toucone. “Some of to last nigioned them.

    Parts of ty o till plenty of loot to be found. A risky business, I think . . .”

    Sabriel nodded tfully and looked back at t of ting by t  , s t soucone probably looked like rival scavengers. After all, o leave tection of s er? S a bit like a ten scavenger. Even fres test items of ill slig cloak t covered , because it  been er   of lemon, for ted soap.

    Sabriel t ting for t clearly ting for someted beting or squatting men picked togeto something resembling a line.

    Sabriel looked over o see o ty ceen. tongued ened to a long central congues occasionally licking against an ear or top of a small head.

    “I oo,” muttered toucone, moving up closer to Sabriel, s. “But I t it ory. t, for to draend to search.”

    “ting!” raged Sabriel.

    “Immoral! t scavengers! e o stop it!”

    Sarted foro blind and confuse t a sed her.

    Mogget, riding on  under rickled down in races, as o her ear.

    “ait! t  profit t is t t of the Dead!”

    Sabriel stood still, sears of rage and anger  s attack. Just stood, che children.

    to te, silent,   even fidget in tanding still, ill to a  dispirited sohe archway.

    Soon, treet, team reet and reflected from armor and tle boy’s blond urning rigaking towards Coiner’s hill.

    Sabriel, toucone and Mogget folloer ten minutes spent negotiating  first, tained leated to see an “official scavenger’s license,” but translated as a request for bribes. t ter of bargaining, doo toucone, and one for t. Strange accounting, Sabriel t, but s stayed silent, not voicing t he was being undervalued.

    Past t, and ter, Sabriel felt te presence of t didn’t reac. aiting for t, whe sun shone.

    In many   counterparts of took . t tite  tims sadly limited. Every morning sao fall back into Death.

    But more always came . . .

    “ting from side to side. “t part—but so many!”

    “Do raigo the reservoir?”

    toucone asked. tion t? S t four rong sunligervened. Little enougime, any t till tomorro less likely  and body could be brougoget  defeat Kerrigor—and Kerrigor o be defeated for to ones of t Cer—  banishe Kingdom . . .

    “e’ll go straigo trying to blank out a sudden fragment of visual memory; sunlig little boy’s rudging feet . . .

    “Pero rescue the way back.”

    toucone led to treets,  an rode up empty, deserted streets, t-nails on t even insects. Just ruin and decay.

    Finally, t ran around top t-out sumbled stone and timber  remained of the Royal Palace.

    “t Regent burned it,” said Mogget, as all topped to look up. “About ty years ago. It ed e all t various visiting Ab up. t  mad and tried to burn t.”

    “ o him?” asked Sabriel.

    “ually,” replied Mogget. “Sook  marked ttempt at governing the Kingdom.”

    “It iful building,” toucone reminisced. “You could see out over t em of vents and ss to catc and the sea breeze.

    ted candles burning . . .”

    ed at a he park fence.

    “e migrance to tal caves in ty steps doo ter, raty from the Palace proper.”

    “One y-six,” said Mogget. “As I recall.”

    toucone so turf of t, but rees nearby, and accordingly, shadows.

    Sabriel follo jumping doer forhe air.

    Sabriel dre left the bells.

    t, but none close. too open in daylight.

    tal caves es’  a fetid pond t ed seven er-spouting statues of bearded tritons. Noten leaves, and t solid h yellow-green slime.

    trances, side by side.

    toucone led to t, central entrance. Marble steps led do t, and marble pillars supported trance ceiling.

    “It only goes back about forty paces into toucone explained, as t trance, sulpcenco t for picnics in high summer.

    t t may be locked, but so a Cerspell.

    teps are directly bety straig t ss. And it’s narrow.”

    “I’ll go first t belied ttering in omac sense any Dead, but there . . .”

    “Very oucone, after a moment’s ation.

    “You don’t o come, you kno out, as tood in front of the sunshine.

    S a as pale as a Death-leeched necromancer.

    errible t e ion, Sabriel didn’t believe it

    an Abhorsen.

    “I do o,” toucone replied.  o. I’ll never be free of my memories, oto do sometter ones. I need to . . . seek redemption. Besides, I am still a member of t is my duty.”

    “So be it,” said Sabriel. “Anyway, I’m glad you’re here.”

    “I am too—in a strange sort of oucone, and , but not quite, smiled.

    “I’m not,” interrupted Mogget, decidedly.

    “Let’s get on . e’re ing sunlight.”

    t opened easily to Sabriel’s spell, ter symbols of unlocking and opening flo t  to cast. Even up ones of t Cer exerted an influence t disrupted Cer Magic.

    t candleligeps, leading straigurns, just a straigair leading into darkness.

    Sabriel trod gingerly, feeling t stone crumble under s, so so keep ep. toucone close be from ing Sabriel’s seps in front, so sed and distorted, sliding into t.

    S, someep. A c cut into he impression of a cold expanse.

    teps ended in a door, rectangular  cone columns rose up like a forest to support a roof sixty feet above  stone, but er as cold and still as stone. Around ts of sunlig doerpoint to ting columns, leaving discs of liger. tudy of lig ter remained unknown, cloaked in heavy darkness.

    Sabriel felt toucone touchen she heard his whisper.

    “It’s about -deep. try and slip in as quietly as possible. ake your candle.”

    Sabriel nodded, passed t do step, before sloer.

    It  not unbearable. Despite Sabriel’s care, ripples spread out from er, and tiniest splas touctom, and sifled a gasp. Not from t  from tones of t Cer. It   of gastric flu, bringing stomac and dizziness. Bent over, sc tep, till t pains subsided to a dull ac  Cloven Crest and Nestowe.

    “ is it?” woucone.

    “Aones,” Sabriel muttered.

    Sook a deep breat aand it. Be careful w in.”

    Sook oucone, er ter. Even foreouctom, and s broke out in lines on  spread from ry.

    Sabriel expected Mogget to jump up on  dislike for toucone, but o toucone artled too, but recovered  draped oucone’s neck, and mely.

    “Keep to tion— t effects near ter.”

    Sabriel raised  and led off, follo rying to break tension of ter as little as possible. But t slos tern, adding to ter, plopping loudly from tely sliding dohe columns.

    S sense any Dead, but s sure  o tones. t, like a constant, too-loud noise; omacaste of bile.

    t reacern corner, directly under one of t ss, ant, save for tiny, soft glohe candles.

    “A cloud,”  will pass.”

    to tiny outline of lig came pouring back down.

    Relieved, to -east  it  fresurned. More clouds folloill ts of ligerspersed by long stretcotal dark.

    t ted by passage do tional fear t tayed too long, and o a niging, life-hungry Dead.

    toucone felt too, made more bitter by ones broken. ter till sa—a single frozen moment of time t  get out of his head.

    Despite t   luminescence off to , someer. Sed it out to toucone.

    “t. “But it’s at least forty paces toer.”

    Sabriel didn’t ans faint lig sensation across t came wed  school.

    Leaving t ter, a V-line of ripples beoucone looked again, ting t rose in ed doses of an emetic. oo, and could no longer properly feel .

    t about ty paces out, teadily opped, toucone lifting tack. But t. t came from a diamond of protection, ter, lines of force sparkling bethem.

    In tood, empty stretc rimed ures, and ice girdled  ter around  Sabriel  about w was.

    “Fater, to join t sounds of t dripping.