Emeton and Tylan sat out in the garden. A peaceful evening was what he needed. Torin and Dosas approached. “There’s something we’d like to discuss, but we’re concerned it might be a sensitive subject and we don’t want to offend anyone.” “What’s it about?” Emeton asked. “Jev. We’d like to help if we can, but we need to know what happened.” “How can you help?” “We believe our doctors can build him a new eye and arm that would work. We might also be able to help with his lack of aging, but that would depend on the cause.” “It’s a spell that stops aging. Many of the humans who have married other races have it cast so they can grow old with their spouse rather than before,” Tylan explained. “Someone cast it on Jev to hurt him.” “Can you make someone age?” Emeton asked. “No. But there’s a surgery that can change someone’s face to change how they look. It’s similar to what you told us about the man who posed as an elf, only not as extreme. He’d still look like himself, just a little older, maybe his mid-twenties.” “I can’t decide this for him,” Emeton said. “I’ll have to talk with him.” Torin nodded. “Of course. If he does decide, he can come back with us.” “How long will he be gone?” Tylan asked. “Or will you insist he stay there?” Torin frowned. “I apologize for Barif. He had no business making that demand. No, he won’t be expected to stay.” “We can’t say for sure how long he’ll be gone. We aren’t doctors,” Dosas admitted. “But most likely, the surgeries should be done in a week. But he’ll need time to recover and learn to use his new arm and eye. I may be wrong, but it’s usually a month or so. He might need a little more time so he can be taught basic maintenance. If he has any more in-depth problems you can contact us with your magic.” “Will it last his lifetime?” Tylan asked. “He’ll likely live five hundred years.” Dosas nodded. “Oh, yes. It should last much longer than that.” “Your offer is appreciated,” Emeton said. “I’ll talk with Jev and make the offer in the morning.” “Thank you.” *** Emeton asked Remtani to join him in talking with Jev. He was under enough stress he wanted someone else he trusted to help evaluate his decisions. “Would you allow me to re-enlist if I do this?” Jev asked. “I told you, if you can pass the test, you can come back,” Remtani said. “I don’t care what you’re missing. I was surprised you never tried again.” “I never had the confidence to,” Jev admitted. “You were one of my best soldiers. If you pass the training test, I will reinstate you as a captain and an honor guard, whether or not you have a fake arm and eye.” Jev nodded. “Thank you. I’ll do it. And perhaps I can learn more about them and if we can trust them while I’m there.” “They’ll probably keep you away from anything sensitive,” Emeton pointed out. “Probably,” Jev agreed. “But people underestimate kids, and those who look like them. Most won’t know how old I am.” Remtani knew firsthand how good of an actor Jev was. When they’d met, Jev had been pretending to be a teenager who was arrested for theft. It was one of the tests Tolin had set up while Remtani was in prison to see if he’d hurt anyone else besides Ann and her friends. Since his release, Remtani had seen Jev play the role of a sniveling coward, orphaned teen, ageless immortal, and many others. Given his lack of confidence, Remtani wondered if deadly soldier wasn’t just another role and he wondered if even Jev knew who he really was. “Just don’t get caught spying,” Remtani warned. “They’re doing you a favor. We don’t want to mess that up.” *** The Tamerians left soon after that with Jev and a charm so he would be able to get back, though Ann had also promised to scry him periodically to make sure he was doing okay.