Korun gave a blind beggar one of his last silver coins before he entered The Hanged Mule. That kindness should have meant nothing. But beneath the tavern, every cup is a bargain, every name can be called, and a freely given gift is the most dangerous thing a man can carry. The cellar door is barred. The floor has opened. The black stiletto thirsts in Korun’s hand. And Lysa, the girl who warned him not to drink, is remembering what the tavern tried to bury. She was not always a serving girl. She was the cup-bearer. Now the silver coin has made the old debt crooked, and the well behind the bar has opened onto a road older than The Hanged Mule itself. Down there, hollow cups whisper names from the stone, dead guests wait in the dark, and a serpent-priest has set a place for the bearer who gave before he drank. To save Lysa, Korun must learn what can be paid, what can be refused, and what must be given freely. The Cup-Bearer’s Debt is the concluding volume of the Korun: Blood and Tavern Smoke series.
