Nice important-family blue house. Kan's, of course. There's a dining hall that can seat forty; there's a smaller one with drinks set out. Aitim's isn't alcoholic. He sips it pensively. 

Tanalo takes a drink. "I love the thing you've got going on with the windowpanes, are those new?"

"They are! My grandfather got all fussed about security, a year back, insisted that before we have the children we modernize everything. I'm not very worried about enemies shooting through the windows but they look so nice."

"It's very clever how they got them to look all shimmery at the same time."

"If you'd like I can send you our architect's contact information! She's expecting this spring, might not be working full-time for a while, but she was a delight to work with."

"Couldn't hurt."

The cook brings tiny sandwiches. He takes a tiny sandwich.

Mmm, tiny sandwich.

"Kan's working late," he says to the cook, "have Amala run something up to the office for him?"

      "Yes, sir."

"Are you looking for a place in the city, Tanalo?"

"The commute's not that bad if you pay for front traincar access and my girlfriend doesn't like it here."

"I've always thought Patla had nicer weather. I do think it limits one's political trajectory, though, living out of town."

"Could always have two places, s'pose."

"You can save on staff if you only really use one for entertaining. 

Did you come here with a wishlist?"

"Nah, it's so hard to think of things till they come up, you know?"

"I can't say it's a problem I've had particularly."

"Well, maybe you don't know, then."

"I can but imagine. I imagine it's very thrilling, though."

"A bit."

"I mean to run for office. It's not the sure thing it once was but I do think I'll win."

"There's a betting pool in my office, you've got good odds!"

"It seems not especially in my interest to accumulate more things to lose, though."

"I think you should run," says Tanalo.

"Do you."

"Sure."

"I don't think you can tell the difference between losing on purpose or losing by accident. And you could say I'd best not lose at all, but - what odds does that market give? Seventy percent? If you're going to try to make me jump for seventy percent chances then I'll miss one inside two years and may as well tell Telkam to get cozy in exile now. That's not how this works. Specific, bounded, defined favors, those you can have without giving me the slightest picture of the kind of man you are or the kind of things you might be expected to want. Subtle things, complicated things, things that even the best politician will fail at sometimes - in other words, anything really valuable - those things you won't get until you learn the game you're playing, and figure out what it means to you to win it. You want me to crawl around on the floor, you have it. You want to rule Anitam? Not so much."