"I have never been given another explanation, so all I can do is improvise my own," Asar-Suti simply says.

"Apropos is a fellow who works in the kitchen, one of Gil's helpers - fellow with very red hair and a lame leg and the snarkiest tongue ever, but it doesn't bother me, because Apropos isn't personal. He just snarks at everyone except GIl, whom he respects. And Esk is a friend of mine who does the library and the trilobites with me, a female wizard - on her world, wizards and witches are very different, and she's both, but mostly a wizard - the witch only comes out occasionally. We can talk for hours. I once tried introduce Lochiel and her when we all found ourselves by the fireplace, and the result was - extremely embarrassing."