"We would appreciate your help in keeping Ivy scrubbed," said Mumchance finally. "There's a spare room at the farm if you want to visit."

"I might," Sanval said directly to Ivy. "If you come to Procampur."

"I might," said Ivy with just the same emphasis. She cocked her head forward, got almost nose to nose, but he did not back down. He just narrowed his eyes and gave her that typical Sanval look of noble composure. It was, she had to admit, a very impressive and rather attractive expression. One of these days, she was going to figure out how to do it herself. After all, she was the daughter of a couple of heroes-a bard and a druid who rattled the world in their own way-and in some places that made her just as much a lady as Sanval was a gentleman. Still, she wondered how stuck he was on Procampur's views about people like herself. "What color are your roof tiles today?"

"I think," said Sanval with a faint but distinct smile, "I think that they should be red."

"Humans! This flirting back and forth is going to take forever. Come on," said Mumchance to the others. The dwarf whistled for Wiggles and the rest of his dogs. "Let's go for a run, puppies! We have some digging to do."