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sip.
    Kar nodded. "If it's stored cold , it will stay fresh longer. Lessens the cost of buying fresh food every day."
    "Like an elk shot in the winter, the body can rest for a few hours before its claimed and cut up," Garrick said while enjoying the chilled beverage again. Garrick ignored the dwarf beside him, who was wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes.
    "Is the name of the inn something special?" Patrina asked.
    "Special? Well, in this land, seven is a number of good luck. Many families try to have seven children, or if there are more, then seven sons."
    "My parents had seven children," Alto mused. He left unsaid that only two were still alive and of those two, he feared for his sister's life.
    "Yes, well, then there's the djinni," Kar moved ahead without delay. "Djinn are beings whose origin is lost to time. Oh, I suppose if you had one as a servant you could command it to tell you, but that would be a waste."
    "A waste? Why?" Patrina asked.
    "Because there are only so many commands you can give one. Their powers are legendary but finite. That means they can only be called upon so many times to offer their aid," he explained. "And no one seems to know from one djinn to the next what that number is."
    "But what are they?" Alto asked.
    "Mind you, I'm no expert on the subject," the wizard was quick to explain, "but what I've read and heard about them is that they were once regular people, like you and I, who somehow became enslaved. Or perhaps they gave themselves willingly so that they might live forever. Whatever the case, they are bound to an item, be it a ring or an urn or a belt buckle. Whoever possesses that item control the djinni. That is the totality of ownership, another reason why the commands one can give a djinni are limited."
    "I've never understood that. If you own the item, why can't you keep asking them to do things?" Namitus asked.
    "Because they are so rare and powerful, everybody wants them. If it's suspected you have one, you stand a good chance of waking up with a knife in your back."
    "Oh," Namitus said. He nodded. "I remember some rumors and how it got everyone excited the last time I was down here. Turned out to be false but there was a fair bit of blood spilled before the truth came out."
    Kar clucked his tongue and drank from his cup of water.
    "A djinni could help me find my sister," Alto mused.
    "Indeed, one could," Kar said. "But you'll spend your time far better by looking in other places first."
    "Namitus, these, um, thieves you mentioned. You said everything has a price here —would they know where to find her and Sulim?"
    Namitus chewed on his lip for a moment. "They might," he said. "But it will take me some time to get in touch with the right people. And there will be many palms that need to be greased along the way. How much are you willing to pay?"
    "I don't have much," Alto admitted.
    "My father is the jarl of Holgasford!" Patrina snapped. "However much it needs to be, Caitlyn is like a daughter to him."
    Namitus sighed. "An I-Owe-You from a distant kingdom is of little worth here. Give me some time . I'll slip away and see what I can stir up on my own."
    "You want me to come with you?" Alto asked.
    Namitus chuckled. "This, my friend, is not your place. No one doubts your heart, but I go to a place where a strong heart is a weakness and not an advantage."
    Alto scowled but Patrina's hand squeezed his and made him bite his tongue. He turned to glance at her and noticed she still wore her armor even though the rest of them had changed into clothing poorly suited for the climate. Her armor was far more revealing than their clothing, allowing her to blend in with the local dress far easier.
    "And I'll poke around some of the wizards I know," Kar offered. "Cagey lot, but I'll be careful not to let on too much. No sense in having Sulim or the people we're after know what we're after."
    "Subtle," Patrina patronized the wizard.
    Kar grinned and bowed his head.
    "In the meantime,"