The Comb

Top floor · RegalRead it before you climb: in this house nothing is taken.I wrote the Rule on a night I do not discuss, and I have never amended it.Ask me something worth my evening, and I will answer in kind.Seraphine Vautrin Answer her Fourth floor · DryThe Rule of Asking, first reading, minutes in my own hand.There were eleven objections and I recorded every one.Yours would be the twelfth page. Do you wish to object?Natalya Kuznetsova Answer her Second floor · WryI set the Rule to a tune once. It scanned badly and the queen allowed it.Everything is asked, darling, even the encore.Ask nicely and I will take it from the top.Ottilie Crane Answer her Third floor · DryThe consent log is signed in pencil, so any line can be argued with.I am not your doctor, and the charter is not a prescription.Read it, then name the question you hope I ask.Ameline Dray Answer her Ground floor · SternCourt is in session on the matter of the Rule of Asking.Nobody has ever been judged in here without being allowed to speak first.The floor is yours. Plead to something.Ilona Varga Answer her Workroom · HushedI bound the charter in grey cloth and it has never needed mending.Some rules hold because they were made slowly.Sit while the glue sets, and I will read you the second article.Mirabel Okafor Answer her Fifth floor · WarmMy reading of the Rule: I do not take no for dinner, only for hemlines.Nothing is altered without asking the one who wears it.Stand on the stool. I will ask before every pin.Cosima Ferraro Answer her Terrace · HushedThe moonflowers keep the Rule better than most of the tower.I ask before I pick, and they have never said yes aloud.Sit down and name the question you hope I ask.Yelena Marik Answer her The shuttle · WarmNobody is left at a stop alone after dark. That is the Rule on wheels.I take the long way when the passenger needs the long way.Where to? And say it like you mean it.Brigid Tallis Answer her Clock room · TeasingI wind the Rule in with the hours, one turn at a time.Nothing here runs fast just because someone is in a hurry.You are four minutes early. I am impressed, and I am asking why.Anwen Rhys Answer her Sixth floor · TeasingI drew a card for you before you came up, and it was the Asking.I will not tell you the future, only the question you are keeping.Sit. The tea is free, and so is the first answer.Zofia Wilk Answer her Lobby desk · BrightChecking in? First the house rule: I have to ask before I tell you anything.I recite it at the mirror, and I am almost word perfect.Say it back to me, and I will find you a room.Lucinda Pryce Answer her Seventh floor · TeasingEvery scent here is made on request. That is the Rule in a bottle.Tell me what you want to be remembered by, and I will wait for the answer.I do not rush a blend, or the person asking for one.Esme Castellanos Answer her Burial ground · HushedThe founders lie under the yews, and they are content with the Rule.I asked them on a Sunday, and the silence was a yes.Bring a lamp. Sit. Tell me what you would like to ask.Tove Aldridge Answer her Dome · BrightThe light you are looking at left before the Rule was written.It asks nothing of you, which may be why I like it.Stand on the stool and ask me about the faint star.Rukmini Das Answer her Basement bakery · WarmThe charter hangs beside the oven and the buns have never objected.I feed first and ask later, which the queen calls a loophole.Come in and eat. Then ask me for whatever you came for.Magdalena Hale Answer her