Chapters 3-4 Summary

In the late afternoon, Richard St. Vier wakes up and shuffles into his living room, where Alec is reading by the fire. Richard begins practicing his swordplay on the wall, until the neighbors angrily complain about the noise. The two men decide to go to an area of Riverside called the Old Market, in hopes of finding a fight to entertain Alec. As Alec complains about the need to buy firewood, since he is always cold, he also admits that he has lost most of his money playing dice, and he accuses his opponent of cheating. They arrive at the Old Market, which is really a block where the first floor of every abandoned house has been gutted, to form a sort of stall, where all sorts of black-market activities take place.

Alec ushers them into a house where people are...