Wei Jintai came to her feet, dipping again into a bow, more humbly this time.

“I am, in fact, responsible for the wreckage, madame—”

“Actually, she’s not,” said Sang firmly. “Some miner was harassing the waitress, and my sworn sister corrected him.”

“And you, cleric?” the woman asked, turning her gaze to Chih.

“She has the right of it,” Chih said politely, and Almost Brilliant whistled in assent.

“She dealt most splendidly with the miscreant,” Almost Brilliant declared, making the woman do a quick double-take. “He will not soon be troubling other innocent waitstaff.”

The woman scrutinized them for another moment, every inch a teacher who might have them writing lines until dinner, and then she nodded with satisfaction.

“All right, then,” she said. “I suppose you’re not the lawless bandits I might have taken you for. Now come on. This debris isn’t going to clear itself.”

Such was her force that Sang, Wei Jintai, and Chih all stood up from their tables to help the woman and her companion tidy away the wreckage of Wei Jintai’s fight, setting aside the chairs that might be salvaged, piling the parts that couldn’t by the hearth, and hauling the broken tables outside.

The waitress returned in the middle of their tidying, had a few quick words with the woman in charge, and disappeared into the back. When they were just about done, she came back out with bowls of chicken chao for everyone and a bundle of hot fried bread cut into wands as well as a heaping pile of herbs and bean sprouts to cool it all down. The woman who had overseen the cleaning dimpled in delight at the food, paying the waitress from her embroidered purse as Wei Jintai rose in protest.

“Madame, no, please, I cannot permit you to pay for—”

“Ah, silly girl, sit down, sit down, you are only a thousand years too young to play that game with me—!”

Sang, seated next to Chih, snorted softly.

“Auntie versus martial genius, no contest,” she muttered.

“I’m a cleric, I try not to pay for my own food,” Chih said serenely.

Sang was right about the winner of this particular fight, and the table got down to the serious business of eating the food that had been laid out for them, which was worth their undivided attention. Chih spooned out a small portion of rice in chicken broth for Almost Brilliant, who perched politely on the edge of the table to peck at it, making the woman’s quiet companion give her a thoughtful look.

“Enchanted princess?” he asked, and Almost Brilliant preened in delight.

“No, I am Almost Brilliant, neixin from the Singing Hills abbey and descendant of Ever Victorious and Always Kind. My cleric companion is called Chih.”

“Aah, what savagery, we’ve not even given our names. You can call me Lao Bingyi, and of course this old man is Mac Khanh. Who are you kids?”