"It's not enough to just get a pattern," Jory says. "There's something special that the Shield do to their patterns. But they keep it a secret." "And there is nobody who knows what it is?" "That's the thousand-crown question! It'd cost you more than a bag of ragwort if I knew." Jory masks his lies well, but his unease still shows. He stands up. "But that's it for the questions. No more until I get my 'wort. I'm going to see where Kelyn's got to." Inric stares after him thoughtfully.