Magister Eider, head of the Guild of Spicers, was herself the centrepiece. The very Queen of merchants. She sat at the top of the table in a pristine white gown, shimmering silk with just the slightest, fascinating hint of transparency. A small fortune in jewels flashed on every inch of tanned skin, her hair was piled up and held in place with ivory combs, excepting a few strands, curling artfully around her face. It looked very much as if she had been preparing herself all day. And not a moment was wasted.

Glokta, hunched in his chair at the opposite end with a bowl of steaming soup before him, felt as if he had shuffled into the pages of a storybook. A lurid romance, set in the exotic south, with Magister Eider as the heroine, and myself the disgusting, the crippled, the black-hearted villain. How will this fable end, I wonder? 'So, tell me, Magister, to what do I owe this honour?'

'I understand that you have spoken to the other members of the council. I was surprised, and just a little hurt, that you had not sought an audience with me already.'

'I apologise if you felt left out. It seemed only fitting that I saved the most powerful until last.'

She looked up with an air of injured innocence. And a most consummately acted one. 'Powerful? Me? Vurms controls the budget, issues the decrees, Vissbruck commands the troops, holds the defences. Kahdia speaks for the great majority of the populace. I scarcely figure.'

'Come now.' Glokta grinned his toothless grin. 'You are radiant, of course, but I am not quite blinded. Vurms' budget is a pittance compared to what the Spicers make. Kahdia's people have been rendered almost helpless. Through your pickled friend Cosca you command more than twice the troops that Vissbruck does. The only reason the Union is even interested in this thirsty rock is for the trade that your guild controls.'

'Well, I don't like to boast.' The Magister gave an artless shrug. 'But I suppose that I do have some passing influence in the city. You have been asking questions, I see.'

'That's what I do.' Glokta raised his spoon to his mouth, trying his best not to slurp between his remaining teeth. 'This soup is delicious, by the way.' And, one hopes, not fatal.

'I thought you might appreciate it. You see, I have been asking questions also.'

The water plopped and tinkled in the pool, the fabric rustled on the walls, the silverware clicked gently against the fine pottery of their bowls. I would call that first round a draw. Carlot dan Eider was the first to break the silence.