Bisi is a compact halfling woman with the sturdy softness of someone who has carried sacks, parcels, and sleeping children for most of her life. She walks quickly but never hurries, placing each foot with the careful certainty of a cat crossing wet floorboards. Her hands are broad-knuckled and permanently dusted with traces of graphite, flour, and brass polish. She wears a cheerful yellow scarf despite preferring gloomy rooms, and its fringe is so carefully mended that every repair forms a different colored stitch. Within a minute of meeting her, people notice that she stands unusually close when listening, almost chest to elbow with taller folk, as if proximity makes lies easier to hear. The unexpected thing about her is her delicate voice and immaculate manners, which survive even when she is threatening to break someone's thumb.