“And then he got married to Roetta Candachi,” Melina obligingly went on. “Which was something of a scandal for the Candachis, as you might guess. I mean, they don’t come any purer than the Candachi. Roetta, they say, was completely headstrong—not to be held by love or honor, as my grandmother would say. They married, and had a daughter within a year.”

“Kitrini.”

“Kitrini. So of course old Lorimela Candachi was pretty happy about that, though she already had another granddaughter. What’s her name—Sereva, that’s it. She’s a couple years older than Kitrini. Anyway, everything seemed fine, everyone expected Anton to settle down and become more normal—and then his wife died. And he took his daughter and went back to Gold Mountain.”

“Why did Lorimela Candachi allow that?”

Melina smiled. “I don’t think he asked her. One day, they were just gone. I guess Kitrini was four or five by then. And for the next twenty years, she spent most of her life in Geldricht, and only a few months of the year with her mother’s family. So you would have to guess she’s not your ordinary blueskin girl.”

“Have you ever met her?”

Melina shook her head. “The Candachis live pretty far up-country, not at all close to my mother’s estates. They haven’t come my way much, though Lorimela Candachi would recognize me if she saw me on the street, and I’ve met Sereva a few times. Lorimela is a bitch, but I like Sereva.”

Now Nolan smiled at the casual epithet. “You shouldn’t speak so slightingly of your high-caste elders.”

Melina laughed. “Well, you know what I mean. My grandmother’s the same way—so’s yours, probably. Lays down the law absolutely, expects everyone to obey every word she says. Completely inflexible. Completely unwilling to entertain a new thought. I know, I know, they’re the ones who have made Inrhio the prosperous country it is today, but you can’t have a conversation with one of them without wanting to run screaming from the room.”

“So Kitrini grew up in Geldricht, and met the ruler’s son, and fell in love with him. And didn’t know any better,” Nolan said thoughtfully, “because she hadn’t had a mother to tell her how to behave.”

“And her father was hardly a role model.”

“It still seems incredible,” Nolan said. “I mean, except for the gilt girls, you never see an indigo with a gulden. And I’ve never seen an indigo woman with a gulden man. Not ever.”

“Well, and you wonder how long Lorimela Candachi will let this go on. Kitrini’s living at her house right now. Surely the old lady has some influence over her.”

“So tell me,” Nolan said. “How do you know so much about these Solvanos? I’ve heard the names, of course, but I didn’t know half that stuff.”