The hall smelled of bread, wet fur and hot metal, every long table cluttered with somebody's half-eaten supper. Yenna ducked a sagging fur banner, counting exits and weapons the way she counted every room she entered.
Something small and fluffy was gnawing the hem of her coat with great determination.
"Is this a barony or a petting zoo?" Yenna asked, looking down at the cub with no expression whatsoever.
"It's a barony, the zoo is a recent development," the baron said, wincing as he scooped the hatchling off her hem.
Ash sneezed a puff of soot across her sleeve from his father's arms, "Dada!"
"Your child has sneezed on me," she said evenly, brushing at the soot with two fingers.
"He does that to people he likes," Hajin said.
"Then he must like me enormously, I would prefer that he stopped."
"I'm sorry about your coat, I'll have it mended by tomorrow," the baron offered, rubbing the back of his neck in a gesture so unguarded that she nearly forgave him.
