Mishtali and Thailyn approached Andy. “Come. Let the others work so they can wake her,” Mishtali insisted. Andy didn’t move. He just watched Ann sleep. “Andy,” Mishtali insisted. “What about nightmares?” Andy finally asked. “It’s like a protection trance like we used for Tercala when he first came. She can control what’s in there. She won’t have nightmares,” Thailyn promised. “The barroom isn’t far. You’ll be close when they finish. You can still be here when they wake her.” Andy shook his head. “I don’t drink.” “Even if you did, it wouldn’t be advisable so close to what happened,” Thailyn said. “But there’s plenty there to drink besides alcohol.” “Should we scry your folks?” Mishtali offered. “Would you feel better talking with them?” Andy sighed, “No. They’ll get worried and want to come. My mom fusses too much.” “Well, then you better join us. If your mother here sees you, she’ll fuss too,” Mishtali warned referring to Tylan. “And if Shay sees you, she’ll have the whole palace fussing over you and make me scry your folks.” “I could speak to my wife,” Merton offered. “She’ll get the whole barracks fussing too. Your highness, when we met, I told you I was sworn to protect the princess and that included her heart. I may not be her bodyguard these days, but I was never released from that oath. My wife is the biggest gossip out in the barracks. She’ll tell the women and they’ll nag their men.” Andy stood. “I never thought I’d see the day when I was threatened with kindness.” Merton followed the three to the barroom. “Aren’t you on duty?” Mishtali asked. “No. I was just keeping an eye on Andy. I know how he can brood over his wife. I’ve seen it before.” Mishtali nodded. “Ann is good at giving us all reasons to worry. But it’s better not to do it alone. Thanks for watching out for him.” “I owe Thailyn my life. It’s the least I can do.” “I’m a healer. I’m supposed to help people,” Thailyn insisted. “And I’m a soldier. I am too. But I couldn’t be one if you hadn’t healed me, even if I had made it to adulthood.” Merton had been born with a lung defect that made him prone to infections. He’d grown up outside Bisfip, but his village was close enough to Thailyn’s route as an itinerant healer, he would stop there too. He’d healed Merton more than once, the last time, he’d almost died even after Thailyn had worked on him. Thailyn had done emergency healing on him, risking death in his weakened state. “What I did worked better than I expected. I was trying to heal the current infection and reduce the severity of new ones.” “I’ve never gotten another infection from it and I only have trouble breathing around smoke or the fumes in the potions room.” Mishtali gave an approving smile to Thailyn. In the barroom, they found Remtani talking with some of his soldiers and a boy who was missing an arm and an eye. Mishtali realized he was the one who’d given chase to Vishom. Was he one of Nim’s students? Thailyn went to pour drinks. Merton smiled. “Hey, Kid, it’s good to see you. How’ve you been?” The boy shrugged. “Not bad. It got boring living off my severance so I got a job doing maintenance at the college. I get to add to my collection and I get free access to their library.” “Researching how to undo that?” Merton guessed. He made a vague gesture at the boy’s face. He didn’t mean the missing eye, did he? “No, just reading. There’s no way for me to undo that.” “Jev, this is Andy, Thailyn, and Mishtali,” Remtani said as Thailyn distributed what he had. “Ann’s husband, dad, and grandfather. Jev used to be one of the best soldiers around before his accident.” “You were looking to repair your eye?” Thailyn asked. “That can’t be done.” “While it would be nice, he meant my face. Would you believe I’m in my sixties?” “An anti-aging spell?” Mishtali guessed “Someone did that to me when I was sixteen. I know it can’t be undone.” “Sharflat berries will reverse the effects. Only eat one,” Thailyn instructed. “I can’t. I was too young.” Thailyn removed his gloves. “May I?” Jev took his hand. Thailyn frowned. “One might not kill you, but I wouldn’t risk it. It probably wouldn’t help either.” “It’s something I’m stuck with. I’ve learned to live with it long ago. Missing an arm and an eye I thought I was okay with too, but not after today. I forgot how hard it is to sword fight one-handed. Maybe if I’d had two hands, I could have stopped him.” “It’s good you didn’t. We need him alive,” Remtani said “Why?” “He’s my son’s birth father,” Thailyn explained. “The boy’s going blind and the only way to stop it is a potion that’s made with fluid from his parents’ eyes. We tried with his sister’s eye fluid, but we aren’t sure if it will last.” “Take him into custody. Understood. And I’ll let the others know too,” Jev offered. “Others?” Merton asked. “Sharna, Chartyre, Meki, and Janar.” “All retired soldiers, all honor guards or candidates,” Remtani said. “And all deal with the public. Meki and Jan work on one of the merchant ships that sail up to Kripdom. They can get the soldiers up there looking. Once they learn he’s stolen unicorn horns, they’ll take the request seriously. They have relations with Ventara.” “How did they manage that with a land that’s halfway around the world?” “They don’t have to deal with the sea mounts like we do. They have access to the oceans beyond. They trade with some of the lands around the unicorns.” “We’re almost as isolated here as we were on Tricon,” Thailyn observed. “It’s why many settled here,” Remtani explained. “Menthanlans were once part of Yarb. There had been a rebellion over the oppression of mages in the lower classes. I can’t say which side won, but it ended with the mages and others who disagreed with their practices being allowed to leave, to settle here. It’s believed the king knew about the dragons here and thought they would finish us off.” Jev nodded. “They almost did. We were lucky we found a way to work together.” “The Baj-tisk agree,” Mishtali assured them. “And so do those of us who came later.” “Dragon, and other races,” Andy agreed.