"That little bitch is getting on my nerves."

At the voice Siss glanced up at the half-breed standing by the window. The woman was sitting in Harod's office, laying out fortune-telling cards on the table. The man spun around angrily and walked over to the other window.

"That damned villager asked a hell of a lot for her, but if we'd known, we could've just taken her for free. We'd have haul her onto the cart, and that'd be it. She wouldn't have had the guts to jump off. None of the villagers would have helped her anyway." The half-breed crossed his arms over his chest and started biting his nails. "I want to make money off this little slut, profit, lots of profit as soon as possible! She was too expensive for that." He spat out a bit of his nail. "By the way, she is kind of pretty. I see opportunity in her."

The woman remained silent, drawing another card. "You didn't fuss this much over us. Not even over me" she remarked in a detached tone.

"Oh, come on, that's not the point!" the man waved dismissively. "Some politician has been her client for two days now."

"The main thing is she has a client, isn't it?"

"She's acting strangely. Suddenly became very meek. I'm afraid it's just a front."

"Oh, what harm could she possibly do to us?" Siss shrugged.

The half-breed grimaced. He growled softly in frustration. "I don't know. That's exactly what's bothering me, that I don't know." Then he suddenly turned towards the table. "What do the cards say?"

"Nothing special so far." – Siss drew another card, but her expression remained indifferent. "But why don't you visit the inn and check on them yourself?"

Harod shot her an angry glance. "That's not how things are done, and you know that."

"What's so strange about it? If something's bothering you, you have the right to look into it. You're the boss here, aren't you?"

Harod hesitated for a while, pacing around the desk. Finally, he exclaimed, "You're right! I'll go!" He opened the door and ordered the guards.

Siss cast him a sideways glance, then sighed with a smile. – Sometimes you're so indecisive, Harod. I can't even understand how you're the one running this house. – But the man didn't hear her from the hallway. The woman drew one last card and placed it in the centre. It was Death, depicted as a black skeleton, hunched over and crammed into the card as if already yearning to escape the confined space. Siss quietly gazed at the image for a while, then grinned with satisfaction.