Chapter 69

THEY MUSTERED up some cold vegetable pies for both Wil and Calder, Shaw apologizing for the lack of gravy. Wil ate them dry and with no complaints. The vegetables were tender and the crust divinely flaky, and cold filled his belly just as well as hot did. A cup of deep red wine accompanied the meal, its flavor rich and woody with a touch of smoke beneath it. It was overtly suspicious, terribly rude, and a little bit silly, considering he'd wolfed down the food without a second thought, but Wil waited until Calder had taken a sip of his wine before Wil did the same.

"We've had visitors," Shaw told them when he bustled back down to collect their dishes. "The Guard is going door to door, looking for an exile and his fey companion." He glanced at Wil with an apologetic shrug as he doused several of the lamps. "Remarkably little description on you, though--apparently no one got a good look at you."