Roland smiled back at her as he went to go and answer the door. His smile, though, vanished when he found that there were two people there. The maid with the water buckets was easy enough to deal with - he just stepped aside to let her in - but Alain was there too, grim-faced and with blood on the collar of his shirt. Roland didn't let out the curse that rose to his lips, but he tensed visibly, looking back over at Nariko with his face back to its usual grim mask. "Hold that thought," he suggested, scraping his fingers back through his hair, and turned back to Alain. "What is it?"

Alain's eyes flickered briefly to Nariko, his colour rising, and he lowered his voice a little. "They know you have it. And they know what it does, how it corrupts. Roland. Someone's been through your study."

And there went any remnants of contentment. The hairs on the back of Roland's neck prickled, and he glanced back over his shoulder at Nariko and the maid. "Did they take it?"

"No. Though the mess is considerable." Alain fingered the blood on his collar, half-closing his eyes. "It's singing out to them, Roland. He was headed straight for it. Whatever we do now, it can't stay there forever."

"We'll find a better place tomorrow," Roland said, after a moment's thought, glancing back at Nariko again. "We can't afford to move it tonight. Not with all this still going on. Can you keep watch on it tonight?"

Alain grimaced. "It scrapes at the inside of my mind like nails on glass, Roland. But I'll watch over it, aye." Again, he looked past Roland at Nariko. "Cry pardon. I didn't mean to interrupt."