“Funny, I was about to ask you the same,” the thin man replied. “This is our city after all, not yours-not anymore.”

“Black Diamond?” Hadrian asked.

Royce nodded.

“And you would be Hadrian Blackwater,” Price noted. “I always thought you’d be bigger.”

“And you’re a Black Diamond. I always thought there were more of you.”

Price smiled, held his gaze long enough to suggest a threat, and returned his attention to Royce. “So what are you doing here, Duster?”

“Just passing through.”

“Really? No business?”

“Nothing that would interest you.”

“Well now, you see that’s where you’re wrong.” Price stepped away from the swan lamppost and began slowly circling them as he talked. The wind blowing down the river whipped his loose shirt like a flag at mast. “The Black Diamond is interested in everything that happens in Colnora, most particularly when it involves you, Duster.”

Hadrian leaned over and asked, “Why does he keep calling you, Duster?”

“That was my guild name,” Royce replied.

“He was a Black Diamond?” asked the youngest looking of the four. He had round, chubby cheeks blown red and blotchy, a narrow mouth wreathed by a thin mustache and goatee.

“Oh yes, that’s right, Etcher, you’ve never heard of Duster before, have you? Etcher is new to the guild, only been with us what-six months? Well, you see not only was Duster a Diamond, he was an officer, bucketman, and one of the most notorious members in the guild’s history.”

“Bucketman?” Hadrian asked.

“Assassin,” Royce explained.

“He’s a legend, this one is,” Price went on, pacing around the stone bridge, carefully avoiding the puddles. “Wonder-boy of his day, he rose through the ranks so fast it unnerved people.”

“Funny,” Royce said, “I only remember one.”

“Well, when the First Officer of the guild is nervous, so is everyone else. You see back then the Jewel had a man named Hoyte running the show.