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The sense of detachment, of being removed so thoroughly from this fresh spate of goings on that you could not even say that you felt numb - that is all gone now. Panic, mere moments ago so conspicuously absent that you were having second, third and fourth doubts about what was happening, has blossomed once more in your breast. Can this possibly be anything but ... what you fear it to be? Or more to the point, are you willing to risk everything - absolutely <span class="mu-i">everything</span> - that this is all just a misunderstanding, that if you mind your manners and hold your tongue, everything will be fine?
A better bred, or just a more decent woman very well might ... but such a woman would never find herself in such straights. Or any of the other life-and-death struggles you have found yourself these past few nights. She'd never ... never have to decide if, then when and how to fight her way out of something like this. She wouldn't have to decide which weapon to lead with, wouldn't have to decide which Guard she was going to strike down first, and wouldn't have to wonder - assuming she was to survive the fight - how she was going to atone for this.
She wouldn't have been born into the Many Mysteries, for a surety.
You almost lose your feet again, and a trill of fear shoots through you, focusing you once more on the work at hand. The job is clear enough; you are going to need to down these cuirassed churls, though the right tool for the job ... no, that is clear too. You have never tried using Salt-Mitigation offensively, chirurgery and a bit of cooking represents the sum total of your experience with knives, and you cannot possibly count on trying to push around, trip up or otherwise beat down one Guard, let alone two. The wand, it has to be the Wand of Head-Knocking. It is the nearest to sure of all options before you. You will have to get it Socketed though. It is enough already to be using it without salt. You ...
You have to do this. You are sure you do. Absolutely.
Now it is just a matter of getting the wand into your hand - and the Socketing Needle into your flesh - without either of the Guards noticing.
