“Thank you,” she said, accepting the rose, its stems having been stripped of any thorns. Ludo dug in his pocket and produced a silver coin, flipping it in the man’s direction.

He caught it easily, darted it up to his ear and pretended to shove it in. “For safe keeping,” he said with another brilliant white smile, before opening his hand to reveal the coin was no longer there.

“Beggars are a bloody nuisance,” Ludo grumbled as they continued down the street. “They grow bolder every year.”

Bryony grasped his wrist and moved it aside, as he still had it thrust across her as if trying to ward off another inevitable attack. “It was a good trick,” she said. “They’re only trying to scratch out a living. These are hard times for a lot of people.”

“Maybe so, but it’s kind of disrespectful given the Fire Eater’s escape, don’t you think?”

“He’s probably been doing it for years. Wastelanders have always had a special connection with fire.” She forced nonchalance into her expression as she fought off the last images of her mother, surrounded by flames. The last image of her father pressed into her memories too, also wreathed in fire, but his was different. Fearless. Powerful.

Ludo said something equally grumpy, but she’d already turned her attention to a city guardsman she’d spotted just up ahead, his identity revealed by his neatly pressed uniform and gleaming badge. She marched right up to him. “Where’s Guard Crandon?”

He was a man of average features. Average height. Average build. His eyes were an unmemorable shade of brown, his hair a matching hue and of average length. Even his beard was average. Despite the attention to detail that had been trained into her, she wasn’t confident she’d be able to identify him in a line of other ordinary men. “Shift finished,” he said. “He’s off duty now. Probably went home to his wife and daughter. What can I help you with, miss?” His eyes darted from Ludo, narrowing slightly, and then back to her.

“I need to speak to Crandon. Do you know where he lives?”

“It’s a bit late to be knocking on doors, don’t you think?”

“It’s important or I wouldn’t ask, I swear it on my own daughter’s life. Possibly a matter of life and death.”

He chewed on that, considering. “Fine, but don’t tell him I sent you. He lives in the third house on the Row. The one painted robin’s egg blue. Red door. Can’t miss it.”

“And the Row is…” Bryony cast her eyes about as if she was lost in maze.

“I know the area,” Ludo cut in. “Thank you, sir.”

The guard tipped his hat and moved on, while Ludo grabbed her hand and pulled her in the opposite direction. “So you have a daughter, huh?” he said.

“Should I have told him the truth?”

“I’m only joking. Deceit is necessary in our profession. At least if we wish to be good at it.”