In the doorway stood the man she presumed to be the innkeeper. Furcile was a burly man. He wore a red linen cap and a gilded red linen coat. His curly black beard glistened with sparkling oil.

When he spoke, he did so in the same haughty accent common in this section of the city. "Ah, Master Stargazer. It's been a while. I trust that your business overseas was a success?" His gaze strayed down to Bandor, Ezil, and Shale. His expression became uncertain.

"Yes, but the sea winds were poor. Else we would've made better time."

"Master Daziran has been worried about you. Of course he never says so, but I can tell. He expected you a while back."

"Then we better not keep him waiting any longer."

"No. Of course not," Furcile said, though his brow furrowed as the three raggedy Soulbonders climbed the steps. "Ah, won't you all come in?" He opened the door wider and waited for them to clamber inside. When they entered the small reception room, he closed the door and locked it.

"How have things been in the city?" Karlar asked.

"The usual," Furcile said, "That pointless feud between Vosa Gergor and Vesa Eddea continues. The people in the surrounding lands are experiencing an economical crisis. They come to Tumble for refuge, but there are only so many mouths we can feed, especially when our own senators continue to stab each other in the back, causing trade wars and merchant protests."

"What happens to the refugees?"

"Many are just turned away from the front gates to fend for themselves." Furcile held up his hand and inspected his nails. They were polished and finely trimmed. "It's a terrible business."

Shale could tell what Ezil was thinking just by the look on her face. If neighbouring lands were suffering and stretched for resources, then how could Tumble still manage to host such an ostentatious celebration?

They followed the innkeeper into the common room. It was enormous, stretching even wider than the monastery prayer room, but there was nobody present except for them.

Against the north wall, a twin hearth held a blazing fire.

"I'm sorry to hear it," Karlar said, "Few profit from war."

"Especially wars about a lot of nothing. They squabble over who has claim to Nargi and the copper mines in Dagasun, but who cares? Nargi is a dump and copper isn't worth its weight in salt in these modern times. But there's no reasoning with them. It's the same all over the greatland. Vosa and Vesa and Kings and Queens are losing their minds and going to war over the slightest possible economic gain or expansion of territory." Noticing something on his palm, Furcile smoothed it against his coat. "Now tell me, Master Stargazer, will your company be needing any additional food or drink brought up to your room this evenfall?"

"I'm sure we will have enough. Privacy is all that we require tonight."

"Just as Master Daziran's coin pays for." Fetching into his pocket, the innkeeper found a key and handed it over to the Stargazer. "Go on then. He should be in his room. At least I think he is. I never have been able to keep tabs on that man."

"Few people can."

They ascended the stairway and climbed to the fourth floor, where Karlar unlocked the only door in the hallway.

The parlour within was almost identical to the common room below, with a few minor discrepancies. A twin hearth lay against the east wall, heating a seating area with a fierce fire. At the west side of the room was an elevated platform with a trestle table surrounded by twelve oak chairs. To the north was another raised platform, with a bar, stocked with bottles, casks, and barrels.

Several more doors were adjoined onto this room.

"Not only do they have a common room fit to house an entire town, but they have multiple common rooms?" Shale asked, incredulous. "Which room is ours?"

"All of them," Karlar said.

"What?"

"The entire floor is ours," Ezil said, smiling. "Each floor is like its own private inn."

Shale was still puzzling the words out. The innkeeper would have to charge a baron's fortune to each client to have a model like that pay dividends. Just how much coin did her uncle have and what had he done to acquire it?

"Now," Karlar said, "Master Daziran could be anywhere, but if I was a wagering man, I'd say he's in his bedchamber, sleeping the day away."

"Sleeping? But it's almost high noon," Shale said.

"The man may fight like a dragon, but he has the curse of sleeping like one too," Karlar said.

"That he does," Ezil confirmed.

"I'll be back in a moment. Be sure to make yourselves comfortable."

Karlar crossed the large room. It took him a significant portion of time to get from one side to the other. He disappeared through a doorway to one of the adjoining rooms.

The remaining three of them scurried over to the seating area, where the hearth burned a vivid red.

Shale wondered if this was another colourfire, but it seemed different from the ones in the city. It was circular in shape, as if concentrated, and somehow it felt hotter.

As they lowered into the soft seats, Shale enjoyed how the heat tightened her skin, but on the inside she felt cold. For the first time in thirteen years, she was about to meet another member of her family. A true blood connection. The feeling was only hitting her now, as the reality of the situation came into focus.

For a while, all was quiet in their room, apart from the crackling logs. Then the door to the side of the room opened, and Karlar re-emerged, in the company of another man.