“I was looking for my monkey. When I reached the pond, I spotted someone on a nearby path. It was clear by the way they moved that they wanted to keep their presence hidden. Until that moment, I had thought the guest-house fire had been an accident.” Lying had become uncomfortably easy. “Foolishly, I called out for the intruder to stop. And … they attacked me with fire.”

“So you say.” Talon rubbed a weary hand over his head, tangling his hair even more. “Indeed, so you say.”

“Does any other explanation make sense?”

Talon frowned. “Except that this is not the first time the woman has tried to kill you. Come, Storm. You must grant that I’m no fool. Who is this enemy of yours? Be warned: she may have survived. We have searched the harbour, even dragged it with nets, but we have not found a body.”

Storm shuddered. She didn’t know if she was relieved or terrified by the news that the Fire-witch might still be alive.

Talon smiled triumphantly. “As I thought. You have somehow made a mortal enemy of the Salamander! Or, at least, one of his most powerful servants. So …what does that fact mean to me? To the Pact?”

He drummed his fingernails on the table, and Storm saw a greedy look enter his eyes. “Your arguments with the Elementals are your own affair. I think it best if the Pact stays well out of that. But damage has been done, and that is your responsibility. You brought your magical warfare into my house, and now you must repay me for the devastation it wrought – both to my house and to the Pact’s historical and priceless garden! That is only fair.”

“But…” Storm stared, appalled.

“If you had not carelessly wandered off, if you had not engaged in a magic fight with the Fire-witch, the garden would still be intact. As it is…” He waved his hands and shook his head with mock sorrow. “Conservatively, I estimate that repairing the damage would cost all the goods the Yanlin fleet could send for at least, oh, ten years. Which would, of course be a disaster for your island.”

“Ten years!”

“Dozens of rare and irreplaceable trees – some hundreds of years old – have been ripped from the earth. At least one ancient bridge has been destroyed. It will take a generation before the garden is restored to its former glory, if it ever is! We may even have to send an expedition to the Outer Sea in search of replacement seedlings.”