Chapter One - Richard Lewis

The abrupt change of topic made Nol suspicious. Suti had a knack of discussing
this and that and the other thing, and without warning you found yourself trapped. "He
was having coffee with Mother, and I was just being polite."
"What did he want?"
The village's leading aristocrat from the puri, the palace on the north side of town,
Mantera was of minor but still royal blood. Not to mention rich. Lately he'd been by a
few times to visit Mother, which was odd to the point of suspicion, and which was why
Nol had joined them at the garden pavilion. "They talk about old times," he said. "They
went to school together when they were children."
"Your mother is very gracious."
"And why shouldn't I have coffee with him?"
"Because you don't like him. You call him a skinny weasel. You want to borrow
money from him, don't you?"
Borrow? The idea struck Nol like a mallet to a gong. He hadn't thought beyond
his suspicions of Mantera to regard him as a possible solution for his predicament, a most
shameful oversight for someone of Nol's acumen.
But what was this look Suti was giving him? Had somebody told her about the
cockfights? "Why would I want to borrow money?"
"For one of your schemes to get rich quick."
Immensely relieved, Nol put on an offended scowl. "I don't have schemes. I have
good ideas that others steal." He lumbered to his feet. Conjuring a yawn that turned into a
real one, he said he was going to bed.
7