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tavern?”
    “Yes,” said Henry. “But not immediately. There is a theatre in the southern quarter that performs at night.”
    “At night?” Eileen was sceptical. “How do you see the actors?”
    “Candles and lamps,” said Henry. “Lots of each.”
    “Sounds expensive,” said Thomas.
    “It is,” said Henry. “But I’m buying.”
    The south quarter was dominated by the king’s palace. The wide, tree-lined streets around it were well-maintained and free of garbage. Large buildings stood in neat rows. Some of them were government offices, where men kept track of taxes and tariffs and all the other business of the kingdom. Others were homes; manors for the well-to-do who judged their worth by their proximity to royalty, and whose fences stood high to keep outsiders from seeing into their grounds. The few businesses here were of the sort not patronized by the poorer classes. In short order they passed three goldsmiths, a pair of clothiers—one for men, one for women—and a wine merchant whose sign boasted imported and exotic wines. All the shops had their shutters closed for the night, but Thomas had no doubt that the wares behind their windows were as expensive as the land they stood upon.
    “I wonder how much the dresses in there would cost.” Eileen pointed at the dress shop.
    “More than anything that’s made from my father’s cloth, I would guess,” said Thomas. “More money than we’ll ever see.”
    “More money than you’ll ever see,” corrected Henry. “Some of us are lords, you know.”
    Thomas found his eyebrows rising. “Henry, in the two years I lived with you, you didn’t have two coppers to rub together. Since when do you have money?”
    “Since I became an emissary for my father,” said Henry. “One must have money to purchase supplies, to wine and dine ship captains and nobility and—”
    “Henry,” Thomas interrupted, “there are three men ahead.”
    Henry looked ahead, but the light of the torch didn’t penetrate that far. “Any weapons?”
    Thomas’s ability to see magic extended to the magic that made things alive. He could see the inner lights of the men, swirling in reds and yellows that faintly illuminated the street in front of them.
    “Can’t tell yet,” said Thomas. “But if they weren’t up to no good…”
    “They would have a light,” finished Henry.
    “Any place to go around here?” Thomas asked. He glanced behind them. “Oh, by the Four.”
    “What?” asked Eileen.
    “There’s three more behind us.”
    Henry swore and drew his rapier and dagger. Thomas and Eileen each drew their own blades as light brightened the street in front of them. The men had opened lanterns and were walking towards them, spreading out to block the street. All of them had swords in their hands.
    “They’ll try to distract us with the light so their friends can get us from behind,” said Thomas to Eileen.
    “Oh.” Eileen looked pale. “What do we do?”
    “Charge the ones behind us,” said Henry. “But first, scream.”
    “What?”
    “Loud as you can! Now!”
    Eileen screamed, loud and long, her voice filling the streets and echoing off the buildings. The men before them froze.
    “Behind!” shouted Henry, turning and charging. “Get them!”
    Henry let out a war-cry that echoed nearly as loud as Eileen’s scream and charged at the nearest of them, with Thomas and Eileen only a step behind. Henry smashed his opponent’s blade out of the way with his torch and lunged forward with his sword. The second man charged at Thomas, but wasn’t nearly the swordsman that Thomas was. In three moves Thomas parried the man’s attack, opened up one of his legs and slashed his wrist, sending the man’s rapier skidding into the street. The man fell back, swearing and crying in pain.
    Thomas turned and the light from the nearest man’s lantern dazzled him. He leapt back, hearing the other man’s blade whistle through the air where he had been standing. Thomas slashed at