9. Fiddle and Famine

Kinch sits in a filthy Cadoth cell, anxious about finding the Spanth again once released. He watches the blind cat navigate by whiskers and trades barbs with a silent, bony cellmate. The cell’s multilingual graffiti prompts Kinch to reveal his hidden birth-gift: he is a Cipher who can read any language, a talent he has concealed since childhood to avoid Guild captivity.

Considering escape, Kinch reflects on how iron dampens free magic and why slipping through the barred window is too risky. Music drifts from a nearby holding cell—his own fiddle. He picks the lock, stalks along the ceiling, and times a swift ambush on the young archer Naerfas, pinning him through the bars. By thiefly protocol, Kinch claims prior ownership; Snochshaeia yields the instrument and bow, and Kinch finishes their Galtish song, asserting status without provoking a feud.

Back in his cell, a food bell delivers meager bread and beans that his cellmate greedily sneezes over and devours. When Kinch needles him, the man suddenly speaks fluent Galtish and reveals a black tongue. He pops two window bars free, slips outside to check the street, and replaces them—an effortless demonstration that this is a Guild gaol and Kinch was allowed to keep his knife because the Guild owns the place.

The cellmate identifies himself as a priest of Fothannon Foxfoot—a Famine, a high-order thief—and scolds Kinch for getting pinched so early in his indenture. He urges Kinch to pursue the Spanth, instructing him to replace the bars after leaving. With this revelation and exit, Kinch regains his freedom and his pursuit.