Emmaline giggled, tried to suppress the sound and ended in a snort which would have been entirely beneath Marguerite von Vissenbach. She felt better for being out of the boat, if the were spotted now it was a simple matter of saying the had gotten lost.

"Sure, assuming the city watch dosen't shoot us, I think I can manage dinner Herr Edwards," she remarked, breath steaming in the chill spring night. They crept up the stairwell and peered around. Just as Neil had predicted there was no one in sight and the damp fog beginning to roll up off the Reik provided some additional cover. The tower loomed before them in the fog and Neil led the way, keeping low behind some bushes which had been planted to be ornamental but had gone half wild for lack of pruning. They slipped through a loop hole on the lower floor. Neil made it easily but Emmaline's broader hips bound for a moment, she twisted and fell gracelessly out onto the floor beyond.

"Such grace," Neil commented as she picked herself up. She stuck her tongue out at him rather than dignify that as a response. The inside of the tower was cleaner than she had thought, though there were a few cob webs where the joists that supported the second floor intersected the wall. Crates stamped with the proof marks of the Nuln amory were stacked on the floor. Neil took her across to a set of stairs which circled down. The lower floor was clear save for some furniture, a couple of pallets of straw, and a small coal furnace. Neil stepped towards the furnace but Emmaline snapped her fingers and it burst into flames that gouted out for a moment before dying back to a dull glow.

"Allow me," she snickered.