Atreus rolled to his knees in the doorway. Rishi was standing inside the murky chamber, staring gape-mouthed out onto the verandah. At his feet sat the heavy basket Atreus had thrown to him, and there were fresh scrape marks on the teak floor. Whether or not the Mar's intention had been to steal, he had clearly been trying to take the cargo basket and flee.

Rishi pointed at the empty balcony behind Atreus. "You… how did you defeat so many, good sir?"

"An ugly man learns to fight," Atreus said, standing.

"It was a… a thing of beauty!" Rishi's mouth continued to hang open, then his arm shot up and pointed out the door. "Good sir, watch your back!"

Atreus twisted forward and away, then glimpsed the tip of a sword arcing toward his head from across the verandah. Behind it came the guard he had knocked unconscious earlier, hurling himself off the balustrade in an assault as wild as it was foolish. Before Atreus could raise his arm to block, a tiny dagger flashed past from Rishi's direction and sank deep into the guard's gullet. The sword slipped from the man's grasp, as he let out a surprised gurgle and collapsed through the doorway.

Atreus kneeled beside the man and pulled the dagger free, unleashing a stream of bright red froth. He looked at Rishi in horror.

"Why did you do that?"

"Perhaps the good sir forgets he owes me money," said Rishi. "It would hardly do to let him get killed before he pays."

"I wasn't going to get killed," said Atreus. He glanced back to see several pairs of hands reaching up to grasp the verandah railing. "But now you've made a marked man of me. The queen's guards will take a poor view of having one of their own killed."