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something of that nature. That should throw Tovin off. Then we can move him somewhere safe and I’ll find a way to get him back to his . . . friends.”
    “After all this time, do you even know how to contact his friends, my lady?”
    “There are still Dhevynians loyal to his cause. The Draitons of Derex. The Seranovs of Grannon Rock...”
    “Yes, well, we won’t get into what I think of the Seranov family, my lady,” Helgin muttered. Then he shook his head. “But even if you were certain of their aid, do you know the risk you would be taking if your husband or Tovin Rill discovered you making contact with Senet’s enemies?”
    Morna was silent for a moment, then turned to face the physician. Her expression was bitter.
    “What other course is open to me, Helgin?” she asked. “The alternative is to inform my husband that the miraculous survivor of the Goddess’s tidal wave is the most wanted man in all of Dhevyn and Senet.”

Chapter 7
    Eryk watched Dirk mutter impatiently to himself as he worked out the incomprehensible mathematical problems Helgin had set for him. It seemed to take his young master only as long as it took to write down the answers.
    Eryk was in awe of Dirk Provin’s ability to solve things like that. Actually, he was in awe of Dirk generally. Since being rescued by Duchess Morna, his life had taken such a dramatic turn for the better that sometimes his former life seemed like a bad dream. He never went hungry anymore, he had a real bed to sleep in and people treated him with respect. Even the stable boys who tormented him so often when he was smaller didn’t bother him these days. Not since Rees had quietly taken Derwn Hauritz and Taril Longbottom and their friends aside after that episode with the horse trough. Eryk didn’t know what the older Provin brother said to the other boys, but nobody in the castle had picked on him since that day. But he still stayed clear of the town; even Dirk was not certain he would be safe alone down there. Derwn Hauritz, the butcher’s son, bore long grudges.
    Eryk was inclined to be forgiving toward Taril and his cronies, though. If not for a beating that left him half dead, Master Helgin would never have brought him to the attention of Duchess Morna, and she would never have taken him into the Keep and he would never have been made Dirk’s servant. He would still be the smallest, stupidest boy on Elcast who spoke with a lisp and was the butt of all the pranks and torments that the apprentices in the town could devise.
    Eryk knew he wasn’t very bright, but being around Dirk made him realize that everyone had someone who was smarter than they were.
Except
Dirk. In Eryk’s humble opinion, Dirk was the smartest person on the whole of Ranadon. Even Master Helgin thought he was clever, and he’d lived on other islands where there were lots of smart people.
    “Done!”
    “That was quick,” Eryk remarked, then added a little doubtfully, “Wathn’t it?”
    “Wasn’t it,” Dirk corrected automatically.
    “
Wasn’t
it?”
    “I suppose.” Dirk blew on the ink to hasten the drying process, then snatched the page off his desk. “I don’t know what Helgin was on about. If these are the worst problems he can come up with, then I think the scholars on Grannon Rock who slaved over them for so long must have been drunken morons to a man.”
    Eryk grinned at the comment, following Dirk to the door. “You’re cleverer than them, Lord Dirk.”
    “I seriously doubt that, Eryk.”
    “You’re smarter than
me,
” Eryk reminded him, then he shrugged. “Actually, everybody in the whole world is smarter than me.”
    “Don’t be silly, everybody in the whole world is not smarter than you, Eryk.”
    Eryk smiled at the reassurance, but knew better than to believe it. He knew that Dirk didn’t consider himself particularly gifted. His young master thought the duchess was just a trifle overprotective and Master Helgin just a tad senile. When pressed, Dirk would