Maddy picked up her tea cup and took a sip, a gesture which looked completely natural to the uninitiated. To a practitioner of Daes Daemar however it screamed disapproval. The Aes Sedai set the cup down and looked at the thief taker levely.


“Surely the hospitality of my house is not so displeasing,” she suggested with an arched eyebrow that threatened to make it a personal insult. Zoya, more familiar with Davian, shook her head and Maddy smoothly transformed the gesture into a shrug. 


“Well if you want to get knifed by a drunken fisherman I suppose that is your own look out,” Maddy admitted, then picked up a small silver bell and rang it. A servant entered and bent to receive whispered instructions. The servant left and then returned a few moments later with a pair of leather pouches, he set them before his mistress and then withdrew. Maddy pushed one purse towards Davian, the pouch tipping slightly to fall open and reveal a mix of coins from several of the Southern Kingdoms.


“Try the Loaves and Fishes, or the Capstan, they are frequented by ship owners and are somewhat less likely to poison you,” Maddy suggested.

“It is likely to be fish for supper I’m afraid,” she continued, her voice tinged with distaste. Zoya remembered Maddy’s distaste for fish and wondered what possessed her to come to a place like this, a place she had obviously occupied for several years. Some sisters, especially Browns, spent their entire lives in the Tower, others left after winning their shawl never to return, most walked a middle way coming and going but always with the Tower as the center of their wanderings.


“Sometimes they have goat or pork, though you will pay silver for gristle and hooves,” she warned.


“Your enthusiasm for the local establishments is noted,” Davian replied dryly as he scooped up his purse.

“I shall join you,” Zoya said, earning herself an arched eyebrow from Maddy. Zoya shrugged, she dare not leave Davian, her only connection to the Saddle Light and the Horn, to wander alone in a town that was lousy with cut throats and whitecloaks besides.