Kadi’s lips purse and the look she gives Faro is offended. She didn’t need his help when she gave birth alone in the woods, did she? She hasn’t needed his help since then, either, surviving on her own with a newborn. She doesn’t believe accepting help is a sign of a lack of faith, the way the Elders taught, but she has her pride and a packful of rare goods.

But she also has a newborn. They can’t stay forever in a public inn, with her up at all hours and the baby crying. She has no idea how much money she will need to find a place of her own, or whether the contents of her bag would even come close to the value of a house. What if she did pay for her own room, only to find the cost put her budget just under the price of a house?

“On the strict understanding that I will pay you back,” she relents.