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terrace when it was dark enough. I was so lonely, so miserable, so full of fear that I felt more like a prisoner than a protected daughter. Does that sound inhuman, monstrous, maybe?"
     
    "No," Joe responded rather gently, pleased with the answer . "It sounds very human indeed. I don't blame your father, and I doubt if you do, either, deep down: he was a product of his world and times and did what he felt was right and best. I'm sure he often wished he didn't have to, wished that you could just be yourself, but he couldn't. Not without the threat of losing you."
     
    Alvi looked up at her, and there was a slight smile on her lips. "You really think so?"
     
    Joe nodded. "I do."
     
    But was it right? Hadn't she herself been so afraid that Irving would learn that his dad wasn't a dead hero but a live green bimbo and that she'd totally abandoned the kid? Left supervising all that growing up to somebody else "for the sake of the child"? Had she really done what was best for the kid, or had she instead inflicted as much pain and emptiness on Irv as the Duke had on Alvi?
     
    How to know?
     
    Damn it, if God wanted everybody to do the right thing, then why hadn't He written a clear and concise instruction manual?
     
    She looked over at the very strange and very adrift halfling. Somebody was trying to nab this kid, who in any case had had no preparation whatsoever for this very dangerous and cruel world.
     
    Ruddygore had his Rules, faeries had instinct, but what manual did she look in to tell her what the hell to do next?
     
     
     
    FAITH, HOPE, AND CHARTERY
     
     
     
    Halflings shall be shunned by those of both families but always be beloved of the heroic.
     
    — Rules, Vol. XIV, p. 192(a)
     
     
     
    ALVI POKED THROUGH HER OLD HEAPED-UP CLOTHES BUT made no attempt to put anything back on. Joe understood and was sympathetic. The halfling was luxuriating in being free and being herself with a friend but had been raised and conditioned all those years to conceal everything most of the time.
     
    That was going to have to change.
     
    Joe retrieved the broadside she'd plucked from the chief highwayman's stuff, unfolded it, and took it over to Alvi. "Can you read this?" she asked.
     
    Alvi frowned, took it, then stared at the drawings. "Wow. Somebody knew a lot about us!"
     
    "You can read it, then?"
     
    "Sure. Can't you?"
     
    "You'll discover that readers are few and far between in this land," Joe told her. "And if there's anymph—any kind, any variety—that knows how, I've never heard of her. Truth is , I can read a language of the place where I'm originally from, but it no more looks or sounds like anything here or on that paper than these trees look like horses. I've tried learning that now and again, but I just haven't got the patience."
     
    "Oh, anybody can if they want to. But all right. `Fifty thousand gold pieces in the national currency of choice to anyone bringing the above to the nearest Alganzian Consul.' "
     
    "Never heard of this Alganzia. Have you?"
     
    "Yes, it's along the coast not that far from my own home. Not my country, though, or my father's nobility. I don't know that we ever had anything to do with them one way or the other. It has been said that their trade includes black magic and the like fromeven farther-off evil lands, but I know nothing more, not even the truth of that."
     
    "Middlemen for Hell. Interesting. What else does it say?"
     
    "Oh. Hmmm `Nearest Alganzian Consul. Man is Duke Mahlaus of Month Keep in the Western Dark. He is dispensable, but proof of death in the form of something personal of his, such as his signet ring, required. Other is called Alvida Zwickda, answers to AM, a halfling who must be taken alive and brought unharmed to the Consul. Death of the Duke without the halfling is no pay. Halfling without Duke will be accepted. Nature of the creature is known only to the Consuls. Do not insult us with ringers if you value your life. Anyone having information on either