"It's not me you need to thank," Nina says, and fetches some parchment and ink for Tayyib to write with. She shows him to the dining table in the kitchen that connects to the living room — on the table, there seem to be all types of carvings, some that are clearly verses and scratched-out lyrics, and some that seem to be nothing more than marks left behind by someone mindlessly scraping against the tabletop.

"I'll leave you to write."

She then returns to speak with Andronika, shaking her head with a snort.

"No, no, Irthi is a former teacher at our school, and Holinn is her daughter-in-law. They come by every once in a while. I know them well enough to leave them there and know they won't pilfer anything."