He turned a page of his book, groped for his drink without looking at it, and took a sip. Well. Norris was very generous; this was much better beer than the stuff Alberich had ordered the first time around.

The scrape of a stool signaled someone’s departure, and it turned out to be the stranger. He eased his way past Alberich, being exceptionally careful not to jar him. Alberich ignored him entirely, though he would very much have liked to get a good look at him. The best Alberich could manage was a quick glance at the man’s profile. It looked faintly familiar, in the way that someone looked if seen once or twice. It could be anybody Alberich had seen around here. Alberich filed the face in the back of his mind.

Now Norris was alone—but not for long.

There was a bit of a commotion at the door, the sound of high, shrill voices, and a flash of bright color. Alberich heard Norris chuckle under his breath, and buried his nose even further in the book.

But Norris was the one who got up, and sauntered over to the trio of women who were clearly what Alberich’s mother had been mistaken for.

Now, Alberich knew he was no expert when it came to women’s dress, especially not here in Valdemar, but there were some commonalities among the ladies of negotiable virtue everywhere, and this lot showed every one of the sartorial signs. There were flounces and ribbons and curls and painted cheeks and lips, all done to excess. Colors were bright (including hair color, for all three sported hair of colors not normally found in nature), there was a great deal of cleavage, a great deal of bare arm and shoulder, and even a scandalous amount of leg showing. Jewelry was positioned the way a general arranged his best troops, with the intent of directing the enemy’s sight to a particular object.

“Well, my lovelies,” Norris said genially, as they clustered around him like gaudy butterflies around a tall flower. “What brings you here?”

By this time, Norris had the attention of everyone in the room, and very well knew it. He was playing for the crowd, and the crowd sensed it was going to get a free show—short, maybe, but nonetheless, free.

“You,” said the boldest, flirting acid-yellow hair at him. “We’ve a bet on that you can’t take all three of us at once.”

The entire room howled with laughter, in which Norris joined, throwing back his head and roaring. “In that case,” he shouted, and Alberich at last looked up with an affronted expression on his face, “you’re doomed to lose, my bawd!”

“In that case,” cried the second of the trio, with hair the same blue-black as a raven’s wing, boldly twining herself around him, “we win!”