Clem looks between the two fierce and tatterdemalion women confronting him and swallows nervously.
"My m-master lost his purse," he says, "so he sent me back on our trail to look for it." He turns to Vela and gives a short humourless laugh. "Not a slave in name, perhaps," he says, "Call it a gilded cage. The ur-men have no head for business, they need humans to do their buying and selling, men like my master, Grand Merchant Thorsil. But there are many rules that say what we can do, where we can go, when we can travel. I'll probably get into trouble for talking to you if anyone finds out."