15/03/2026 19:03

---

Then he noticed the garden’s stuffy-guy. This was the Outer Arc, and in the Outers, even gentry went to bed early. He wondered if a woman could drive you mad—literally mad. She raised her hand to her nose and wiped blood from the right nostril.

“I learned it from my da,” she said, responding to the more innocent interpretation of his compliment. The hum became a kind of stuttery thudding sound. he was now, without even the two gold coins she’d brought up here? And that was only the small half of it. She giggled, and soon the giggle turned into a full-throated cackle.