One of the women swept past, her ruffled dress swishing against the Gurkish carpet, one long, bare leg sliding out from the blackness with each step. Two hundred and… His eyes seemed glued to that leg, his heart beating very fast. Two hundred and… twenty-six. He jerked his eyes away and back to the dice.

Three and two. Utterly normal, and nothing to worry about. He straightened, and stood waiting. Outside the window, in the courtyard, the guests were beginning to arrive.

Welcome, my friends, welcome to Cardotti’s! We have everything a growing boy needs! Dice and cards, games of skill and chance are this way! For those who relish the embrace of mother husk, that door! Wine and spirits on demand. Drink deep, my friends! There will be various entertainments mounted here in the yard throughout the evening! Dancing, juggling, music… even perhaps a little violence, for those with a taste for blood! As for female companionship, well… that you will find throughout the building…”

Men were pouring into the courtyard in a masked and powdered flow. The place was already heaving with expensively tailored bodies, the air thick with their braying chatter. The band were sawing out a merry tune in one corner of the yard, the jugglers flinging a stream of sparkling glasses high into the air in another. Occasionally one of the women would strut through, whisper to someone, lead him away into the building. And upstairs, no doubt. Cosca could not help wondering… could he be spared for a few moments?

“Quite utterly charmed,” he murmured, tipping his hat at a willowy blonde as she swayed past.

“Stick to the guests!” she snarled viciously in his face.

“Only trying to lift the mood, my dear. Only trying to help.”

“You want to help, you can suck a prick or two! I’ve enough to get through!” Someone touched her on the shoulder and she turned, smiling radiantly, took him by the arm and swept away.

“Who are all these bastards?” Shivers, muttering in his ear. “Three or four dozen, weren’t we told, a few armed but not keen to fight? There must be twice that many in already!”

Cosca grinned as he clapped the Northman on the shoulder. “I know! Isn’t it a thrill when you throw a party and you get more guests than you expected? Somebody’s popular!”

Shivers did not look amused. “I don’t reckon it’s us! How do we keep control of all this?”

“What makes you think I have the answers? In my experience, life rarely turns out the way you expect. We must bend with the circumstances, and simply do our best.”

“Maybe six guards, weren’t we told? So who are they?” The Northman jerked his head towards a grim-looking knot of men gathered in one corner, all with polished breastplates over their padded black jackets, with serious masks of plain steel, serious swords and long knives at their hips, serious frowns on their chiselled jaws. Their eyes darted carefully about the yard as though looking for threats.