Aery, thanks to her excellent hearing, faintly heard "thirty minutes." She shoved the armloads of clothing she had purchased into a pack, shouldered the pack, and sprinted to the docks. "Sorry, Celaena, I was trying to find clothes for us! I didn't realize the ship left today!!" She grinned, stood on tiptoe, and whispered to Celaena "I found tunics reinforced with a really expensive fabric called spidersilk. They were next to the armor in one of the specialty stores. I kind of guessed at sizes, but there's one for me, one for you, and spares for your brother and his other... friend. I got a few for some of the fighting urchins, mostly Silly and the other family leaders, and also one for Ame because I worry incessantly about that girl. I'll show you when we get on the ship. Also, masks. They're in the bag as well."
Speaking of Silly and Ame, they came running up just as the five-minute alarm to get on the ship blared. "Sorries, miss, on'y, I couldn'ta convince th' guard tha' we'd be aright with yous. I ha' to sneak away. Ye can' really been thinkin'a goin outta the country, wi'out us, was ye?" Silly put her hands on her knees, sucking in air. "I can' stay here, no' when Tazz an' all th' others be hauntin' me." She met Celaena's eyes, tears spilling over her lashes. "They won' leave me alone. They be tellin' me tha' I needs to fin' who killed they, an' do justice on 'im. I can' bear it, acoz' they be tellin' me tha' they're in pain, an' it's dark, an' the littles be scared, an' they can' leave the dark till they don' have no unfinished business 'ere, an' I just can' do nothin' for 'em, ye know? An' it hurts me, tha' they can' have peace until they killer be dead, bu' I'm no match for 'im, nay. Can I please come with ye? And Ame too, acoz she don' get along with the other littles?"
"I unnerve them." Came the little whisper. "Because I remember everything I've ever heard, and it all makes sense to me." Ame's bright purple eyes met Celaena's gold ones. "I'm not strong or fast, but I'm smart, and that's got to count for something, right?"