Вилорп

→I walk down to the public baths, pay the admission fee, and wallow in the pool for a long time. Given the poverty that exists in Twelve Seas, we're not so badly off for public baths. The King loosened his grip on the purse strings some years back and helped renovate several of the area's old bathing houses. Even the poorest citizen can get himself a warm bath every now and then, and that's not the case in every city by any means. Not everyone is as clean as the Turanians. We're well known for it.

→I shake my head. Treasure and magical artefacts. I've been spending my days chasing phantoms. I should have stuck to some solid investigating. Small crimes, men cheating on their wives, petty thefts. That sort of thing. It suits me better, and I might have earned more.

→After sending the message to Cicerius I wonder what to do. Tonight Glixius Dragon Killer, General Acarius and Praetor Capatius are meant to be arriving at the Avenging Axe to play cards. I hardly have enough money to sit at the table with them, and despite my best efforts it doesn't look like I'll be raising any more. With the money I've borrowed from Lisutaris and Dandelion, plus my own meagre savings, I can scrape together around 440 gurans. Not enough, faced with the wealth of my opponents.

→As I walk along Quintessence Street I find myself humming "Love Me Through the Winter," Moolifi's most popular song. She's sung it once or twice more in the tavern, and it's still a great favourite. She's a good singer, no matter what Makri thinks. I shake my head at the thought of Captain Rallee pounding round the harbour, looking for buried gold. No wonder. He'll need a lot more money than he can earn if he's to keep hold of Moolifi.

→I nod. Dandelion is caring for a lot of patients, and it's decent enough of Moolifi, who's a paying guest in the tavern, to lend a hand. I show her to the bedroom. I notice that underneath her gown—blue, well tailored, and more expensive than your standard Twelve Seas resident could afford—she's wearing a pair of high-heeled shoes, yellow with pink embroidery. Very like Tirini's, and quite similar to those worn by Anumaris Thunderbolt. The pink threads I found were a great clue. Narrowed it down to only every fashionable woman in the city.

→"I've just come from the kitchen. Dandelion asked me to bring this to Lisutaris."

→Before taking Lisutaris's message to the nearby Messengers Guild outpost, I answer the door to Moolifi. The Niojan singer is looking a little less glamorous than usual. Her hair is slightly dishevelled and she's not wearing any jewellery. She's holding a tray with a beaker of steaming liquid on it.

→I nod at Lisutaris, then march from the room, still angry. Behind me Tirini Snake Smiter is complaining that her shoes are dirty because the place has never been properly cleaned. Sorcerers. I detest them. Apart from Lisutaris, possibly.

→"Coranius, desist. Thraxas is quite right. We're his guests and I've been taking up his bedroom for a week. He deserves our thanks. Thraxas, please send the message, it is rather urgent."

→It looks like I may have to do just that because Coranius isn't a man to back down, but before he can speak Lisutaris interrupts him.

→"No. I'm asking you to mind your manners, and if you try using a spell I'll knock your ugly head off before you can get the words out."

→"Are you asking to die?"

→Coranius growls.

→"No one orders me around in my own room, and if you take that tone with me again I'll pick you up and throw you down the stairs."

→I walk right up to the Sorcerer and put my face close to his.

→"Do as Lisutaris says," barks Coranius.

→"This is a lot of fuss about a few dolphins."

→"Thraxas, please send this to Cicerius immediately. We need him here."

→Lisutaris takes a scrap of paper from the small table beside the bed, scribbles a message on it then mutters a brief spell, sealing the document.

→"That woman is the nurse from hell."