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“A ht separate you? Watch old mine and me the richest of all rich men”

I had expected hih at my claims of enchant how hard it

Taproot finished his drink and put the little bottle back in the drawer “Speaking of rich ht care to know about one Maeres Allus”

“You know—” Of course he knew Taproot knew of the Red Queen’s secret brother, too broken for the throne He knew about goats chewing on the slopes of distant fjords He would hardly not know of Verreatest crime lord

“Watch side his slim nose “Maeres has secrets that even I don’t know And he is not best pleased with you”

“Perhaps a journey north would be good for my health in any case, then,” I said

“True enough” And Taproot wavedhis hands as if I were a tu and not a prince of Red March I let him do it too, for when a man who knows too much knows not to waste hison

NINE

The pregnant woa’s wagon She waddled ahead of h she said her time lay weeks ahead

“Daisy,” she told me Her name, or perhaps what she planned to call the whelp if it proved feon where a woht silks sat with her ankles crossed behind her head, and my attention had wandered

“Daisy? A fine name” For a cow

I spotted the elephant, corralled by a fence that it could swat aside, tethered to a thick post by a length of chain A nu off lean and ed around a barthe elephant and whatever else on provided shade Circuses always cauess it must be easier to impress a drunken crowd