Many strange and unfathomable things met her eye as she anxiously scanned the ground. The riverbank was scattered with rocks and stones in all manner of colours, and an occasional object that looked man-made. Many of them interested her exceedingly, but she did not pause to examine them. She pressed on.
Until she rounded a gentle curve in the river’s path and came to a dead stop. Ahead of her, two women stood talking. They both bore the white hair that proclaimed their Lokant heritage, and Serena’s eyes narrowed. One of them, she was almost sure, was the same woman who had invaded Baron Anserval’s private collection and taken the strange key. The other’s face was familiar to her as well, and it took a moment for her to realise why. This woman, dressed in practical shirt and trousers and t
