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But it was nothing to worry about: in the chair out in the hallway sat Dora,She was half-deaf, half-blind, and so ancient that taking naps had become a full-time job She was slu as she slept As one oflinks to randht as well have been

Dora was napping co from the uncapped flask on the table next to her, in need of a refill

As usual

Slipping my own flask from my pocket, I topped up hers and capped it As I set it back down, she snorted herself awake, blinking her cloudy eyes in the dimly lit hallway

She looked at the flask and smiled

“Your h, as she unscrewed the lid and took a sip “Every day I come and catch a feinks after I finish my drink Every day I wake to find a full flask A miracle Have I told you about it, my boy?”

A oddamned times

I hid h I could never tell if she really believed thatas she was coht by her, even if I had to do it in secret I had a reputation as an unfeeling bastard and I aimed to keep it that way

“Once or twice,” I finally said and her thin lips curved into a sly grin

She took a seriously respectable swig, capped her flask, and then patted my hand

“Saw your pretty little stepsister earlier, wearing a brand new dress Cornflower blue Looks like an angel made it, you ask me I reckon it must have cost a city’s ransom for the material alone Imported… You should have seen her”

Fuck yes, I’d seen her And Dora was right: the new blue dress was probably the arment in the land I’d had it made for her myself from silk that cost more just to have transported across the sea than most people earned in a dozen years, and had it put in her chambers

She had no clue it wasand rumble that sounded semi-believable, even to me