On the airship The Glutton, captained by the Khatta Mira, Eustace do Varr, spoiled rich son of Arch-Inquisitor do Varr, causes a fuss on the deck. Kira, a Khatta mercenary, is his reluctant bodyguard. Eustace grows angry with an innocent Savanite slave and threatens to throw him overboard personally. Mira, of course, objects, and Kira ends up tackling her own employer. At last, Mira has Eustace taken belowdecks "for his own good".