‘Not mixing with the scumbags?’ Chel supplied. Last time he’d seen the Mawnish mercenary, they’d been in a mountain gully of blood-pinked snow, Brother Hurkel their beaten prisoner. Beneath a black flag, Grassi had let them go, on condition that the good brother did not survive.

He had survived.

‘Aye, looks like they’re getting well reacquainted and all. Guess the boss won’t be back any time soon, eh?’

Loveless only stared, her brows low and furrowed. ‘But what is she doing here?’

‘Ah, relax, Ell. They’re having fun. You did tell him to go off and enjoy himself, right? We should all try and get some jollies?’

‘Yes. I did say that, didn’t I?’

Loveless turned her back, downed the end of her brandy and poured another. Chel took the opportunity to slip out of the booth, and make unsteady progress in the direction of the now empty doorway.

***

The music changed as Chel passed the musicians’ nook, the last delicate notes of When Come the Black Doves fading into the merry buzz of the background, followed without delay by the clear strums of an opening he recognized. A moment of cold shock punctured his drunken fug.

‘Please don’t play that one.’

The musicians were a good-looking lot, their polished instruments almost glowing in the burnished light of their nook. The nearest glanced up at the sudden appearance of Chel’s head in their space and broke off what would have been the opening bars.

‘You have no love for the Ballad of the White Widow, master?’

Chel thought of the extreme reactions he’d witnessed from Rennic on previous occasions to hearing the song, and Foss’s words in explanation: If one of the company has an issue with a thing, then all in the company do – that’s how it works, my friend. Given the instability of the big man’s mood, the last thing he wanted was another violent scene in such beautiful surroundings.

‘One of my party prefers not to hear it. If that’s all right.’

‘Of course, master. We are all friends here.’

He ducked out as they started up Qish Baymul and Joy, a seasonal favourite, and went on his way feeling like he’d done something rather good.

***

She was waiting for him in the hallway on his return, framed in the doorway by the soft glow beyond, a silhouette from his every dream.

‘What—?’