Someone knocked on their door.

Nuliyaa looked up from her record-keeping and exchanged glances with her family. Miyt and Tseetsaa were both curled up near the window, working on embroidery. Nuliyaa had pulled their mage-light closest to herself to read. Cheeyt was trying not to pace. Since she usually didn’t have trouble relaxing at home, Nuliyaa assumed she was waiting for Singmij to contact her.

Cheeyt scowled them back into their seats, though none of them had moved. A hand on her dagger, she strode across the room to the door and opened it the barest amount.

“You have a visitor,” Nuliyaa heard the innkeeper’s child say from the other side.

“Who is it?” Cheeyt asked.

“He gave his name as Sinchach Mingom.”

They all traded looks. Obviously Nuliyaa wasn’t the only one who had never expected to see Sinchach again.

Nuliyaa pushed her scrolls aside. “I’ll talk to him.”

“I’ll go with you.” Tseetsaa pushed aside her own work and popped up.

“Is there something going on between the two of you?” Nuliyaa asked.

“No.” Tseetsaa looked truly confused. “He acts like a child.”

From the way Miyt sent a chiding look in Cheeyt’s direction, Nuliyaa assumed her sister had made a face that showed she thought Tseetsaa acted like a child, too.

“All right,” Nuliyaa said to keep her younger sister’s attention. “Let’s see what he wants.”

“Hopefully it’s an apology from his parents,” Cheeyt muttered.

Sinchach stood awkwardly in the middle of the inn. At least his travels with him had familiarized him with all levels of lodgings. He didn’t curl his lip quite as much as he had back at the beginning of their time together.

“Hello, Sinchach,” Nuliyaa said. He looked up and swallowed as she approached. Hm, that was curious. She motioned at the nearest table and took a seat. Sinchach sat across from her after he sent a brief smile Tseetsaa’s way.

Now that she was closer, Nuliyaa realized he looked ready to bolt. He was a little paler than normal and his eyes kept darting away from hers. Curious, indeed.

He didn’t speak. Nuliyaa waited a moment to give him a chance, then said, keeping her voice more gentle than she felt he deserved, “Did you have something to discuss with us?”

“Are you all well?” he blurted out.

Ah, so he had heard about the incident yesterday? “We had a few injuries, but we weren’t as hurt as we would have been if we hadn’t gotten away from Yengkima—”

His eyebrows drew together like he was confused. “Yengkima? Who is Yengkima?”

“Oh, you were referring to the incident with your parents.” Nuliyaa took a deep breath, then gave him a quick update on how their day had gone after the Malks had gotten them out of his parents’ hands. His eyes widened as he listened until he almost looked like a sketch of an owl that Nuliyaa had seen in the lending library.

“I will come with you!” he burst out when she was done. Then he looked embarrassed and dropped his eyes.

Nuliyaa started to push away from the table. “No, we’ve been through that before.”

He lifted his hands in a stop gesture. “No, please understand.” He inhaled deeply and she watched some of his tension fade. “I informed my parents that I was leaving their home to find a job.”

She squinted at him. “Are you asking us for a job?”

He nodded quickly, as though he was afraid she was still about to walk away. “I am. And my parents have accepted this,” he added. He must have expected her to object. “We had a long discussion over supper last night that it is time for me to make my own way. I had originally planned on finding a position as a mage-researcher, but my parents were correct.” Here his lips pressed together before he rushed on, “There are not many mage-researcher positions available. If I am not working on my research, I would rather work with you.”

He was almost—sweet. If one ignored that they were second-best to his beloved research.

“You’re willing to keep sleeping on the ground or in the lower-end inns for us?” Nuliyaa pressed. Without curling your lip as much as you did coming here, she added silently.

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She was certain he thought he hid his grimace. “Yes, of course.”

“And you’re still within your first year out of the academy,” she continued, “so your pay will remain the same.”

“Did you give him the rest of his pay?” Tseetsaa whispered.

Oh, by the—! She hadn’t. Being taken prisoner by his parents had distracted her. “Speaking of pay,” she added, “I have what you’re owed for the journey here up in our room. Are you staying with your parents until we leave?”

“Ah.” He hesitated. “They would prefer I not.”

She just barely managed to keep her eyebrows from jumping up. That conversation must have gone something like, “If you’re not going to do what we want you to do, then feel free to make your own way.”

She really did not want to have to pay for another room, especially a room that only Sinchach would be staying in. “There’s space in Kachaark’s room for you to sleep, even with our other new addition. I’ll send word to him that you’ll be joining him.”

“I have the job?” Sinchach’s voice was full of surprise and relief.

“Is there a reason I wouldn’t hire you back?” she asked.

“I—” His eyes darted away from hers.

“You handled yourself well during bad situations and you have an informal arrangement with Tseetsaa,” Nuliyaa said. “You have been a good employee.”

“Thank you,” he said quietly.

“Where’s Tajak?” Tseetsaa burst into the conversation. “I thought he was your guard.”

“He was assigned to me while I was in Wumaltsmaas,” Sinchach answered. His fingers gripped the table hard. “He was released from my parents’ employment when they, ah, found us on the road.”

Nuliyaa rubbed at her temple. Tajak had lost his job because of Sinchach’s decisions.

Tseetsaa turned big eyes on her.

Oh. Oh. It had never been Sinchach that Tseetsaa was interested in. It was Tajak.

She was going to have to come up with a very good argument for Cheeyt about this, but… “We have the coin to hire another guard,” she said idly. “Perhaps Tajak would be interested in work. Do you know where to find him, Sinchach?”

Tseetsaa’s eyes widened. She wrapped her hands around Nuliyaa’s other arm.

“Yes?” Sinchach’s eyes had widened, too, but she was fairly certain he was feeling guilt, not excitement.

“Good. Why don’t the two of you go ask him if he would be interested?”

Someone opened the door to the inn. They stepped inside and paused just inside the door, their eyes sweeping the common room. When they saw Nuliyaa, Tseetsaa, and Sinchach, they started walking over.

Now that the sun wasn’t behind her, Nuliyaa saw the newcomer wore a uniform similar to the one Singmij had worn at the chancery in Wumaltsmaas.

“Are either of you Cheeyt?” the woman asked when she stopped next to the table.

“No, she is upstairs.”

“Nuliyaa?” the woman tried again.

“That is me.”

“I have a message for your from Sikoesnu Singmij.” The messenger presented a small, rolled slip of paper.

Nuliyaa unrolled it and read. “Singmij asks that we meet with her this afternoon,” she said. “The two of you go find Tajak. Cheeyt and I will see Singmij.”

“That sounds good.” Tseetsaa jumped up. Sinchach stood up more slowly.

The messenger hadn’t moved. “Are you going to escort us?” Nuliyaa asked. She wanted to feel amused, but she was too jumpy from the past couple of days—months, really—to feel anything more than relief.

“Yes,” the escort answered.

Tseetsaa ran up to tell Cheeyt while Nuliyaa sent one of the innkeeper’s children down to Kachaark’s room to ask him to come up to the inn.

Cheeyt almost flew down the stairs. “Singmij wanted to speak to both of us?” She sounded disappointed.

“I don’t think she would be allowed to send an official messenger to arrange for alone time with you,” Nuliyaa said dryly.

“That is frowned upon,” the messenger said, her tone equally dry.

Kachaark came through the door, ducking down to keep his horns from catching on the frame. Yarutkup slunk in behind him. “Something going on?” he asked.

“Sinchach is returning to the company,” Nuliyaa said, motioning to the mage, who was still at the table.

“Oh, is he?” Cheeyt narrowed her eyes at her.

Nuliyaa was going to have to come up with a good argument indeed for Tajak. “Yes. It’s probably best if he stays in your room.”

“I’ll keep an eye on him. That all?”

“Mind checking in on Miyt in a bit? We have a meeting with Singmij.”

“Not at all.” He settled on a heavy bench that had obviously been designed for the bulkier peoples.

“Where will Tseetsaa and our new employee be?” Cheeyt asked.

“Oh, Sinchach wanted to discuss the assistantship with Tseetsaa.” Nuliyaa turned a meaningful look on the mage. If he was back with their company, then it was time for him and Tseetsaa to work that out.

“My parents are not going to be willing to pay her—” he started.

“Oh, we won’t stop you from taking on additional work, as long as your work doesn’t get in the way of our jobs,” Nuliyaa told him cheerfully.

“Oh. How kind of you.” He almost matched Nuliyaa and the messenger for dryness.

“We’re ready,” Nuliyaa told the messenger and they followed the other woman out of the inn.

And they almost walked directly into Nuttulch and Saknuu.

The two men froze when they saw Cheeyt and Nuliyaa. Cheeyt’s face smoothed into what Nuliyaa had come to recognize as “professional Cheeyt,” the mask her sister wore when doing something unpleasant but necessary.

“I’ll be done here a ways,” the messenger said, recognizing the undercurrents and wisely choosing to flee.

The men had disappeared at some point after the Nengmekians had finished interviewing them all. Nuliyaa hadn’t been sure they would see them again.

“Ah.” Nuttulch looked down, shuffled his feet, and cleared his throat. For once, he seemed completely unsure of what to say.

“We’re going to G’rist,” Saknuu said after the moment had dragged on too long.

“Why G’rist?” Cheeyt burst out. Nuliyaa didn’t even know where that was.

“Monastery,” Nuttulch blurted.

Nuliyaa and Cheeyt stared at him, then turned to Saknuu. “The monastery helps people with—problems,” he said. “We’re going to see if they can help us.”

“We should have been here yesterday,” Nuttulch said. “Maybe if we had—” His voice trailed off.

“Yengkima’s people still would have gotten us,” Cheeyt said, a hand rubbed over her eyes like she was tired.

“Still, like you said, we cause trouble.” Nuttulch shrugged, still looking at the ground. “We don’t want that anymore.”

Nuliyaa wrapped an arm around Cheeyt’s as her sister said, “Leave a message at the Guild when you’re back.”

“We will,” Saknuu promised. They started down the street.

The messenger returned and Cheeyt and Nuliyaa silently followed her away.