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“Don’t worry. That wasn’t mine.  I don’t have any knives.  They just fall from the ceiling every so often.”  The Shrike gazed up at Kongar curiously.  That wouldn’t be the oddest thing I’ve seen so far…

A small knife suddenly fell.  Kongar cursed as he ducked to pick it up.  Just then, a second knife clattered to the ground, spinning on the cold marble.  Kongar cursed again, grabbing at the weapon.  A third knife suddenly crashed to the floor.  The Shrike narrowed his eyes.

Convenient timing.

Kongar shoved the smallest knife between his teeth, struggling to fit the knives into his scabbards…

Scabbards?  For a man with no knives, Kongar sure had plenty of places to keep them.

“Was that one of the poisoned ones?” The girl – Chantara – asked quietly.

So, Kongar did have knives after all.  Poisoned knives, even.

Noted.

“Guess we’ll see,” Kongar said cheerfully.  “If I get horribly sick within the next ten minutes, I guess it was!”  The Shrike watched intently as he tucked the last knife into his sleeve.

“As I just said, I don’t have any knives.”

Liar. 

Kongar shot him a sickening grin.  “Cat got your tongue?”  The Shrike gazed up at him dimly.

“You’re a liar,” he whispered.

The Shrike may have been many things, but he wasn’t a liar.  And he most certainly wasn’t a thief, either.  He felt a twinge of regret at taking Kongar’s knife – even though it had been intended to kill him.

I’ll give it back, eventually.  It would probably be best to wait until he was about to leave, rather than give it back directly.

He scares me.

It wouldn’t be long, either.  There wasn’t much point in staying – he could find much less miserable places with a little more effort.  Besides, there was always the chance that Misu would find him again if he stayed anywhere for too long.

Although…this didn’t seem to be the sort of place that Misu would like either.

 

@rose-colored-fancy I hope you don’t mind, but I did change some of the ending you wrote.  The Shrike is scared, but he’s also very observant and clever.  He isn’t as soft and helpless as he seems lol.  He’s seen too much to be easily fazed.