Six months into the visit that began shortly after the Regent returned to the capital after the ill-fated visit to the Castle of the Sea, Melisande Sone stood at the window of her quaint little townhouse, listening to her major-domo read off the list of expenses. Her back was to the woman and a faint smile crossed her lips as she imagined each event.

"And the housekeeper from the Palace has sent us a bill, claiming that no matter how close you are to the Regent, Your Excellency will still have to..."

Kari, soaking wet and spitting like a cat, chased Hideo Sone through the halls of the palace, pond mud held in her tunic to rub in his face. As Hideo, laughing, sped through the first floor, Tyra rose like an avenging spirit from where she'd been crouching behind a bannister and flung herself at Hideo from the other direction. Her slight body slowed the older boy long enough for Kari to catch up, but when Kari tipped her load of mud onto Hideo's face, somehow the Prince wasn't there and all that black gook poured all over the carpet. Hideo perched on the bannister where Tyra had been hiding and grinned down at them. Unfazed, Tyra hopped on one foot, pulled her mucky, soaked slipper off and threw it at him.

"There's a note from an Michelle Paquin-- a merchant, I believe-- asking that you chastise your pages Kari and Tyra Tanaka and prevent them from raiding her garden any more. Also, there's this rather irate notice from the Silver Touch Merchant House demanding recompense for their horses..."

Four lizard-riders rode abreast down the broad avenue, people on foot scattering out of the way. The Easterners on their backs gazed around in cocky superiority, disdain written all over their faces, until ahead of them came a team of eight horses pulling a double-width wagon. There was no way both the lizard-riders and the merchant wagon could pass each other, and the lizard-riders showed no sign of stopping. Only a few moments later, the horses were frozen in fear as the lizard-riders paused their beasts to shout at the merchants driving the cart. The merchants shouted back and one rider got off his lizard to bring the argument up close and personal, when his beast decided to end the face-off by shuffling forward a few steps and reaching out to take a bite out of the nearest horse. It only went downhill from there.

"And here's an extremely cold message from the Royal Guard inviting you to take custody of your men..."

In the jail cell, a pack of muscular, swarthy men rattled bars and sang raucously in their dirty heathen tongue. Two Royal Guards, one with a bandaged face and the other with a broken hand, stood out of range, staring at the prisoners with naked hatred on their faces. One of the imprisoned men grinned at their watchers and smacked his lips, nudging a companion who was twisting one of the bars at the window patiently. His companion grinned too and jeered at the guards, "Hey, Komaru! Like your metal house? Feel safe?"

Melisande smiled out at the city and asked, "And how many invitations?"

She could hear the amusement in her major-domo's voice. "Five for you and two for the children. One aimed especially at Toshio; apparently people here don't think four is too young to start meeting girls."

Melisande looked over her shoulder and grinned. "Don't you love this town?"