Chapter seventeenBecause my three new companions had stood shoulder to shoulder with me against the stikitches trying to murder Ulana on the canal bank, and because they’d jumped down onto the packet’s deck to front the assassins trying to murder Swantram and the new nazab, these three fine bonny fellows had a vested interest in Naghan Raerdu’s discoveries. Apart from that, they were well up to the challenge presented by the problem. They were all, I judged, prone to a spot of danger and excitement and adventure.
So I asked Tobi to dig them out and we foregathered in a cozy little teahouse at the hour of mid.
As I’d guessed, they were well up for it.
Naghan reassured them that the bunch of cut-throats we’d met in that dolorous room were, indeed, the same lot we’d fought off.
“Except fo
