“Ha! There are so few asha here nowadays—sent back to Ankyo, more’s the pity—and you two are a welcome sight to see! Come sit with us for a little while, you and your beautiful lady friend! You are an asha too, aren’t you, milady?”

“My name is Likh,” Likh said, rising from his chair. “And thank you, kind sir. I’m an asha who’s never been to Yadosha before and would love to know more about what you do.”

“The more the merrier!” Knox proclaimed.

“Likh—”

“I’m only going to talk to them, Tea. Isn’t that part of what we do?” The boy asha drained his mug and stood. “Where were we, men?”

Groaning inwardly, I followed them to their table. I’d known the guys long enough to trust them not to take advantage, and I’d be on hand. But they didn’t know Likh, and I didn’t know drunk Likh, and I couldn’t find a way to extricate ourselves from the situation without causing a scene.

Deciding to allow Likh some leeway, I accepted a watery-looking but sweet beverage that didn’t taste like hard beer at all. “It’s like mother’s milk,” Balfour assured us.

The innocent-seeming drink, I learned much later, was renowned for its smoothness. It was the lightest of the drinks served at that hall, that was certain, but potent enough for someone who didn’t always imbibe, the kick creeping up on one unawares until it was far too late.

The men started with a toast in my honor, and then to Likh’s. By then, I was still sober enough to make my own toast. “May our children one day inherit a world where they can explore the lands without the need for a name,” I intoned, “and free to carve out their own peace.”

The men seemed to like that. From there, we moved on to toasting the day’s nanghait hunt, future nanghait hunts, and it was only when we were toasting nanghait hunts twenty years hence and I spilled more beer than I drank that I knew I was in trouble.

Likh handled his drinks better than I did. He flirted with the men, knew the right words to say, and was full of compliments. His training in Kion had paid off—he was better at flattery than I was, possibly on the same par as Shadi, who excelled at it.

It was easy to keep drinking. With every refilled bowl, it took less effort to forget what I’d left behind in Kion—Daisy, Fox, the elder asha, all of it.