“Arrested? You’re thinking of the old days under the Council. They don’t have trials now, nor jails, nor arrestings. At first old Loaf put up a fight but then they dragged out his wife, her so scared she was silent, if you can believe it. Once they had her down on the ground, Loaf got docile enough, though even then he didn’t beg, not for his life and not for hers. They took him out on the dock, cut his throat, and threw him in the river. We all saw—they routed us all out so we could see King Haddamander’s justice. Well, we saw it. And we saw how Leaky howled and fought, but the king’s men didn’t even argue with her, just put a sword in and said, ‘She was a rebel too, you saw her fight against the king.’ We watched it all without a word, you may be sure, because enough houses had already burned down, enough shopkeepers had already disappeared in the night with never a word, only their windows broke or shutters torn down. But when they threw the baby out the upstairs window, we turned away, we had witnessed enough for that day. I think the captain knew he’d gone too far. Didn’t want a revolt on his hands. So he let us walk away, return to our homes. But he did shout something about how the children of monsters could not be allowed to live. Not sure if he meant the monster to be Loaf, because he looked so ugly, or the both of them, because they were accused of fighting against the king.”

“So Loaf and Leaky had a baby,” said Umbo.

The old carpenter looked at him and there was something sly about him. “How could you not know that?”

“Two years gone,” said Umbo—a bit of an understatement, but close enough. He could have named the time to the hour.

“Yes, they had a baby,” said the carpenter. “About old enough to toddle about. But not able to fly, poor boy. Had no wings, not him, and so he broke on the ground, and they threw him into the river along with his ma and da. The river must be near full of the king’s justice by now. They must have a dam of such justice right across the mouth of it, down at Aressa Sessamo.”

“By Silbom,” murmured Umbo. “I didn’t know it was like that.”

“How can you get from Upsheer all the way to here, and not know how it is? Did you fly?”

“I slept, mostly,” said Umbo, “and the rivermen were not disposed to converse with me. Now I think I see why. Not knowing who might be hearing with the king’s ears, or seeing with his eyes.”