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sunbathed, as such, but I had never burned either, even in the heights of summer. I shook my head.
    “Hold up your arms once more. No, not so high. There.” He moved around me like a sculptor, like a horse buyer, every now and then lightly brushing his fingers against a curve of hip or hollow of back. I found myself biting my lip, suppressing an urge to start at his touch. “There’s room for improvement,” he said at last. “Put your clothes back on.”
    I did, at speed.
    “Sit down.” He gestured to the wooden trunk; it would do as a chair for me, it seemed. I sat. I had been shaking. Only now, in stilling, did I realize it.
    Tallisk went to a cabinet and took out a carafe and a small glass. He poured a measure of clear liquid and handed it to me. “Drink this.”
    I brought it cautiously to my lips. It smelled sweet and sharp. I took a cautious swig, then two, then drained the glass in a few burning swallows.
    He pulled his own chair close to the trunk and sat upon it. There was a kind of hard appreciation in his look; despite his words, which had been less than compliments, I could tell he liked the look of me. I do not know if it was that or the drink which made my heart beat in a fast, erratic rhythm. “You know what the purchase of your bond means, were I to buy it?”
    “I have some idea.”
    He shook his head. “I doubt it.” He leaned back in his chair. He wore an odd expression, a sort of half smile, as if he was amused by my supposed ignorance.
    I felt my hackles rise, but kept silent. I looked at up him and held his eyes. He frowned slightly, caught by my gaze. Let him judge me, I thought, let him laugh at the thought of a callow Lowlander half-breed knowing the least about his world: if his offer was sincere, it was more than I could have hoped for in a lifetime.
    Five years of servitude I owed, but now there was the chance of a glittering prize at the end of it: I would wear my livelihood on my skin. Wherever I walked, people would crane their necks to see me, caught in fascination—as I had been, trying to catch a glimpse of Adorned ink from the loft of Lun’s inn years ago. I saw myself swathed in fabric and jewels, hiding beneath them a treasure that no one could ever take from me.
    “That may be,” I said, in an almost-whisper, “but I am willing to learn.”
    “Good.” In one motion he stood and snatched the glass from my fingers. “You know your contract will have to be redrawn?”
    This I had not known. “Redrawn? Why?”
    He ignored my question and walked to the door. “Still there, Yana?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Bring Maxen up.”
    She nodded to him and ran downstairs, clattering on the way down. Then I heard her slow return with Maxen, the older man huffing with exertion as he climbed the stairs behind her. Tallisk heard it as well; judging by the small, grim little smile he wore, he quite enjoyed hearing it.
    “Ah,” Maxen said, when he was at last ushered into the atelier. “Roberd! What do you think of him?”
    He shrugged. “I’ve seen better.”
    Maxen’s face fell. “But he is very pretty, don’t you think? Such unusual coloring. Eyes so green—with his shade of skin, that is a rare find. And quite pale. He would take the ink well.”
    Tallisk chuckled. “Don’t bother, Maxen. I’ll have him.”
    Maxen’s lips split in a wide smile, his eyes green-keen. “I thought so! I thought so. He’ll be a fine prize for the Blood, he will. You did say I had a good eye for boys, didn’t you? You did say that.”
    Tallisk gestured to me. “Tell him about the contract.”
    He laughed, a trifle shakily. “Isn’t this something for us to negotiate first, Roberd?”
    “ Tell him.”
    Reluctantly, he turned to me. “Your indenture with me will be invalidated, and a new contract drawn up,” Maxen said. “The law is different, for Adorned. There shall be more restrictions, and greater rewards, of course.”
    “What sort of restrictions?” I directed my question to