Rotemdol arrives back in Calbeyn. On the surface, everything seems normal, except that the city guardsman seem more conspicuous than usual. But he notices that the guilds have more of their own security in visible positions, and the wealthier area is crawling with knights, all fully armed. As soon he starts talking to people about the arrangements for his next show at The Dragon, he learns that all is not well. Although there haven't been any more assassinations, the authorities have been responding by large scale arrests. "I know some of the people they've taken", Karr, the Dragon's security, tells him. "Most of them have no political connections at all. I think they're just picking up random people. Then they'll torture them for evidence or false confessions. Or mind-ream them to fish for information". "Your mate Banjo", he adds, "I think they took him".
