"Ah, no thank you," he says, declining the cream and sugar with a polite wave of his hand.

As she continues speaking, the curious light in his eyes only grows. And there is more to it, soon enough: recognition, as the pieces of Fifth House and the River slot together in his mind.

"Pent-laoshi," he says, "are you from the same world as Harrow and Gideon of the Ninth?"