‘Then you will forgive me if I trust centuries of experience before the report of one Sapphire Deathless.’

There was a brief and awkward silence. All four of them filled it by sipping from their drinks.

Quasim leaned forward. ‘Lady Anuja tells us you are most nimble in the sky, Lord Vasin.’

He gave a nod to Anuja in recognition of the compliment. ‘Then I hope I prove worthy of her words when we next fly together.’

Quasim grinned. ‘She says you’re almost as good as me!’

Anuja rolled her eyes but said nothing. Her silence seemed out of place, given that she acted as the High Lord of her house. It troubled him.

‘Perhaps,’ Quasim added, ‘you would be interested in pitting your wings against mine?’

‘Perhaps,’ echoed Vasin. ‘But I am more interested in how my wings might serve my friends. I’ve heard a little of how things are here, but not from you.’

‘Things are hard,’ said Quasim, still grinning. ‘And glorious. The Wild throws ever more at us, and we prove more than a match for it.’

‘I hear the most recent hunt had six tributes.’

‘Aye! And they drew out a mighty horde for us to fight.’

‘What was it like?’

‘It’s hard to describe,’ said Lakshin. ‘You really had to be there.’

Another insult. He kept a tight grip on his pride, reminding himself that he needed the Opal onside. ‘I’m here now and I don’t intend to be idle. If there’s anything you can tell me, it would be appreciated.’

Lakshin scowled and Vasin wasn’t sure if it was at the memory or the imposition. ‘These aren’t like normal hunts. They start the same way of course, but the moment we take wing, things change.’

‘Forgive me,’ he glanced at Anuja. ‘But there’s nothing normal about sending six tributes.’

‘It’s true,’ agreed Lakshin, also glancing at Anuja. ‘May I?’ She waved consent and he continued. ‘In the hunt before, Fourboards made its sacrifices and sent out two tributes, as is the tradition.’ Lakshin looked out of the window towards the distant, glittering lights below. ‘Neither of them made it more than twenty paces into the Wild before they were taken. Can you believe it? It was so sudden our hunters never even found the torches.’ He shook his head, still disbelieving. ‘The following night was a long one for the people of Fourboards. Murkers came right up to the fences. In the end, they were driven off but by then they’d managed to break one of the supporting stilts and an entire house fell into the swamp.’

‘They attacked the settlement itself? You’re sure?’

Lakshin seemed annoyed at the interruption. ‘What of it?’

‘I thought Murkers only attacked living things.’

‘They were, the house was full of living things.’

‘Yes, but to bring down a structure like that …’