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Healing. You should feel honoured. He doesn’t often interfere directly with anyone, human or Harshini.”
    She closed her eyes for a moment, wondering why the knowledge didn’t surprise or frighten her. They seemed to be emotions that for the moment were out of reach.
    “Tarja…?”
    “He’s fine. He’s up north, on the border.”
    Even that news failed to ignite much more than a small sense of relief in her. She wondered if she should feel something more. Perhaps she was simply too lethargic to care. Later, when she gained her strength, she could worry about such things.
    “What are you doing here?”
    “This is my home, R’shiel. It’s your home too.”
    “Is it?”
    Brak smiled, as if her vagueness amused him. “Go back to sleep, R’shiel. When you wake up theHarshini will attend you. They are a gentle people, so mind your manners. And try not to scream when you see their eyes. I didn’t bring you all this way so you could embarrass me.”
    R’shiel smiled vacantly. “I’ll be a good girl.”
    He nodded and moved away from the bed.
    “Brak.”
    “What?”
    “I owe you my life, don’t I?”
    “In ways you can’t imagine,” he replied.
    When R’shiel woke the next time, she felt much better. The weakness that had gripped her was replaced with a sort of restless energy that did not take well to being bedridden. Her Harshini attendants, who introduced themselves as Boborderen and Janarerek, smiled at her constantly while they firmly refused to let her out of bed. She found it too difficult to pronounce their names, so she called them Bob and Jan, which made them laugh delightedly. Her one attempt to defy them was met with even more smiles, as they simply pushed her back down using magic. R’shiel felt the now-familiar prickle against her skin and could not move a muscle. The Harshini fussed over her and scolded her gently, but they were not to be denied. She gave up and did as she was told.
    Brak visited her again the following day, and brought with him a tall Harshini with hair almost as red as her own. He wore a simple white robe, the same as the other Harshini, but his bearing set him apart. He was regal, in a manner that R’shiel had rarely before encountered, and too perfectlyhandsome to be human—even if his black-on-black eyes had not betrayed his true race.
    Freed from the magical bondage of her attendants, who had finally believed her when she agreed to behave, it was all R’shiel could do not to bow in his presence.
    “Your Majesty, may I present your cousin, R’shiel té Ortyn,” Brak said with uncharacteristic formality.
    So this was the Harshini king. “Your Majesty.”
    “It fills my heart with joy to see you recovered, R’shiel,” Korandellan said. He meant it, too. R’shiel had never met any group of people so free of guile; so genuine in their concern for her well-being. “But please, we are cousins. There is no need for such formality. You may call me Korandellan.”
    Mindful of her promise to watch her manners, she politely thanked the king. Brak gave her a small nod, and she amused herself with the thought that this was probably the first time in her life she had done something he approved of.
    “When you are fully recovered, I will be delighted to show you Sanctuary,” Korandellan added. “And we must see to your education. There is much for you to learn, young cousin. Shananara tells me you have some minor control over your power, but you have missed a great deal being raised among humans.”
    “I’ll look forward to that,” R’shiel replied, a little surprised to discover that she really was looking forward to it.
    The king smiled at her—these people seemed to smile at everything—then withdrew, leaving Brak and R’shiel alone. Once the door had closed behind him, Brak turned to her.
    “See, you can be civil when you try.”
    “Why would I be rude to your king? He seems very…nice.”
    “He is, so watch yourself. I brought you here to help you