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throughout the Middle of the World; the most efficient way to do this is through merchants and other travelers, for such endorsement means a quick concession from other rulers. Chang’an is a crucial crossroads for all traders, and you may be certain Wen Emperor Yuan intends to make the most of it—he would be a fool not to. I do not want to give him any reason to detain my caravans or tax them more ferociously than is already the case. If that means I must travel in winter, so be it.” He had donned his heaviest black-silk sen-hsien and had a fur cloak sitting out, ready for him. “You do not have to come with me. I can manage this myself.”
    “I know,” said Ro-shei. “But I feel it would be unwise to remain here alone. You have Professor Min Cho-Zhi arriving here tomorrow, to watch over your house, and that should be sufficient to reassure the Magistrate and the Councillors that you are going to return. This isn’t Wen Emperor Yuan’s territory, and your being gone could lead to trouble for me as another foreigner, should I remain.”
    “So it could,” Zangi-Ragozh said thoughtfully. “And Professor Min might change his mind.”
    “That is a possibility, but there are others, and the problems they could create are closer to home. He will have access to your equipment, to the athanor and your other alchemical supplies,” said Ro-shei, running one hand through his short-cropped, sandy hair.
    “Not the athanor.” Zangi-Ragozh lifted one brow as a kind of commentary on his decision. “I’ve taken that to the main warehouse and crated it as if it has been cargo, then stored it under a number of other crates and labeled it in Persian as an oven—which, technically, it is. It will not be seen, let alone used, in my absence. I’ve packed my stash of jewels in my travel chests except for a handful of diamonds, which I have put in the strongbox in my study. Jho has been told about it, but not Min.”
    “Professor Min has great curiosity, and I doubt he will leave such instruments or containers unexamined. He might decide to claim them as his own.”
    “He might,” Zangi-Ragozh said. “But it would be a dangerous thing for him to do.”
    “When he came here yesterday morning, he asked a great many questions of me, not all of them ones I was comfortable answering.” Ro-shei paced the room, his faded-blue eyes worried.
    “Yes, he concerns me, as well. Is that why you are considering staying here?” Zangi-Ragozh asked, and before Ro-shei could answer, he went on, “Because if it is, you need not worry. I have made certain provisions that will protect all my possessions from Min or anyone else; I sent an accounting to the Magistrate last evening and assigned temporary legal power to Councillor Ko and Professor Tsa, which provides them with authority to preserve my holdings.”
    Ro-shei looked relieved. “I should have known you would take measures to guard yourself.”
    “You should,” Zangi-Ragozh agreed with a sardonic smile. “I will be glad of your company, but I do not want to compel you to travel in winter if you would rather not. You have already spent two years roaming about on the ocean on my behalf. If you would prefer to stay—” Zangi-Ragozh put the tips of his fingers together and regarded his pleasant salon over them.
    “I have benefited from the excursion, and I will not mind setting out again. I am only concerned with the conditions we may encounter,” said Ro-shei, and went back to watching the progress of the loading. “At least you need not suffer, traveling overland.”
    Zangi-Ragozh nodded. “Truly. So long a journey over water, in a box in the hold of a ship, would be hard for me to endure.” He coughed gently. “As I know from experience.”
    “There will be rivers to cross,” Ro-shei reminded him.
    “And that will be more than enough running water for me, I think,” said Zangi-Ragozh. “As to my affairs here, I hope they are sufficiently organized to withstand my