“All finished, yes, yes? Mind if I take the empties?” His hands came into her wildly peering view and took the two half-drained mugs, and then the entirety of his stooped form sidled into sight, which was barely an improvement. He was smiling, but it was a yellowed and rodenty thing, that smile, and nothing fit for any wholesome human face. His hands rubbed over each other in obscene congratulation.

“What’s that? A heady brew, mine host, yes, yes? Quite enough to stop you in your tracks, is it? A pint of the finest, yes, yes. Why, so few take the forest road these days, but I’ll let you in on a secret, our little secret, yes. It’s that even fewer get to the other side. For even here, almost within sight of the Holy City, a little Darkness can grow, a little of the Dark Lord’s power. Shame you weren’t holier, yes? Shame you didn’t take the high road, the open road. But no Light will save you here. Now let’s get a good look at you, my dear, my dear…” For a moment she thought that meant he would be leaning in to paw at her, but instead he had slipped a little trinket like a jeweler’s lens from his pocket and was fiddling with it, muttering under his breath. At last he had it to his eye and was staring at her through it, first with that carious grin, then with increasing disquiet.

“What? What is this? You lied to me, you minx, did you? No pilgrim you, or so you say, but look, I see the traces of the Light on you. Lots of little sparkles, yes, yes. Look at the pretty little blessings you’re carrying. No, no, I’ve seen less on priests and priestesses than on you. The imbecile, the idiot! Go haunt the Heathen’s Quarter, I told him. Give directions only to the profane, I said. We don’t want pilgrims and priests and church knights come knocking for a room, no, no. We want those that nobody’ll miss. What was he thinking, sending someone as sparkling as you.” He hissed in disgust. “And you, lying to me. What’s the world coming to, I ask myself, yes. But, ah well, we’ll just have to dispose of the pieces that much more thoroughly, won’t we? Won’t have anything left for if the church comes looking for you, no, no, no.” And he turned the lens on Enth.

“What…?” He staggered back as if flinching from a blow. “What is it? What are you, my friend, my friend? What am I…” He took the lens from his eye and shook it. “Why can I never get this thing to work properly? Why can’t I…?” He reached out to twitch Enth’s hood back, and the man-spider stood abruptly and batted his hand away.