Exton

Raina and Jack look at me, so I shrug my shoulders and explain.

"Tell me something, guys… is anyone not curious why such an apparently nice guy stays with that raving bitch?" That gets me a few grins. "Well, as some of you may know, those of us in the living-impaired club tend to have superhuman hearing, and I distinctly heard Her Royal Bitchiness refer to 'your friend' twice, and once to someone called 'Conal'. I think this friend of his is hostage for his good behaviour - which means he has to put up with all the shit she wants to pile on him whenever she feels so inclined. Judging by what I've seen of her so far, I'd say she feels so inclined a lot.

So Raina and I convinced Jack to pick a fight with him so he could slip him one of these" - here I hold up a folded slip of paper, one of the Tavern's order tickets. I hand it around and everyone can read what it says. Are you in trouble? If yes, find a way to slip us a note next time you're here. Maybe on money?

"Jack performed like a trooper. He managed to slip one of the notes to him while they were rolling around on the ground - and later, after the fight, Raina and I each managed to pass him one while we were cleaning him up.

So now" - I shrug - "we wait and see. Any questions?"