The woman sat the lantern on a shelf in the small room, opening it again slightly and staring at Kira in the dim light. "It's you, sure enough. I saw her, nigh on twenty years ago. I was already past my youth when the daughter stayed the night at Denkerk on her way to Dorcastle, and in the morning I was there alongside the road to see her ride on. She looked so tired, and I thought she looked scared, too, like she knew she'd die there, but she was riding to Dorcastle for us anyway."

The woman shook her head as she gazed at Kira. "You look just like her. I've never forgotten her face as she smiled at me and nodded, riding past. Like I was a friend of hers."

Kira smiled despite her nervousness. "Mother likes to talk about how nice Denkerk was. How nice all the people were."

"We're not all nice. And some who come to visit aren't so nice at all. Lucky for you I saw you come into the courtyard and you sat down quiet before those three came looking for me. Have you heard what those folks from Urth have been saying?"

"No," Kira said. "I'm sure they're lying."

"I haven't heard it first-hand myself, but the story is that you two have run off together and are in all kinds of danger because you're so young and foolish, so tell the Urth people on a far-talker if you see them and you'll get a reward such as no one on the world of Dematr has ever seen. I heard that and I thought, the daughter of the daughter of Jules might be young yet, but she can't be a fool. There's more here than the Urth people are saying. That girl is her mother's daughter, and if she's out with that boy then there is good reason, probably something the daughter needs done. And it must be something important to all of us or the daughter wouldn't have risked her girl."

"That's true," Kira said.

Jason spoke up in a low voice. "And that reward they're promising is just shiny trash, something that will look great but is worthless."

"I guessed as much." The woman bowed her head slightly toward Kira. "What does the daughter's girl need from me?"

"We were hoping to get on a coach heading north," Kira said.

"That's easy enough, but the militia is out and they're watching everyone on the roads," the woman cautioned. "They think they're doing the daughter a favor, you see, not thinking that if the daughter wanted that she'd ask it of us herself. If you're seeking to avoid them as well, you'll need some special arrangements."