* * *
“Whoo! Cold out.”Pendry pulled the door closed behind him. He wore half mittens, and he’d tucked his cloth-wrapped lute under an arm. A boxy, black device dangled from his fingers by a strap.
“Let’s get you something hot to drink,” said Tandri, already starting a latte.
“Yes, please!” He stepped to the right and caught his first glimpse of the stage at the end of the dining area. A tall stool awaited him, and a dark curtain draped the wall behind it. “Oh, wow,” he breathed. “For me?”
“Don’t trip on the way up,” teased Viv. “Before you get settled, though, I have to know. What’s that?” She gestured at the box he carried.
“Ah. This! Well, it’s a, uh… they call it an… Arcane Amplifier? It, uh… it makes….”
“… makes things louder?” finished Viv.
“Sometimes…?” He looked pained.
“Make sure the glass stays in the windows, that’s all I ask. We just put this place back together.”
He nodded awkwardly, took his drink, and disappeared around the corner.
At the first opportunity, Viv checked in on him. She smiled to see the kid flanked by stone he’d laid himself.
Pendry warmed up with a catchy bit of finger-picking. The box sat a few feet away, and his music filled the room in a way that waspresentwithout intruding—enfolding rather than bludgeoning. When Pendry sang in his plaintive, sweet voice, she smiled and withdrew.
She turned to find herself face-to-face with the Madrigal, clad this time in a rich, red winter cloak with a fur ruff.
Viv was caught off guard for a moment, at a loss for words.
“Congratulations,” said the Madrigal, inclining her head slightly. “I’m pleased to see the progress here. Your establishment is a real credit to the Redstone district. It would’ve been such a shame for it to disappear after such promising initial success.”
Viv recovered enough to stammer, “Uh, thank you, ma’am,” Thinking of all the deliveries and the unexpected laborers, she leaned closer. “And I mean that, truly.Thank you.”
The Madrigal glanced significantly toward the coffee maker and the piles of pastries on tiered serving trays, and Viv sidled around the counter to begin brewing her a cup.
Tandri turned, startled at the sight of the woman, and immediately began selecting rolls and Thimblets.
“A shame the arsonist wasn’t apprehended,” said the Madrigal. “I do hope they don’t return.”
“Doubt they will.” Viv pursed her lips as the Madrigal seized her gaze. “I figure they got what they came for. No reason to come back.”
The Madrigal nodded as she took her drink and a bulging sack of baked goods and departed.
She didn’t offer to pay this time, which was an honest relief.
* * *
When Durias madean appearance that afternoon, his cheeks pinked with the cold and snow in his neat, white beard, he was without his chessboard.
“Well,” he said, his hands tucked into his coat. “Just like I remembered.”
“Pretty close, anyway,” said Viv. “We made a few improvements.”
He seemed startled. “Oh, yes, I suppose that’s true, looking at it from your end.”
“Get you something to drink?”
“Oh my, yes, please. And one of those as well,” he said, standing on tiptoe and pointing at the chocolate crescents.
“Have you seen the dire-cat around?” Viv asked as she made his drink.
