“You may recall I am something of a mender among my people,” Somial said.

Karigan smiled, remembering his care for her in a forest glade, in what felt like a whole different lifetime. “All right.”

She sat upon her bed and let him remove the bandage. As before, everything seen from that eye was a watery blur. She could not focus. This time, however, it was darker. She did not consider this a positive development.

“Mirare.” Somial’s voice was soft, but sounded surprised. He murmured more in Eletian, his words soothing, so she did not require translation. But Mirare? She wondered if it was an Eletian expression of some sort.

Somial gently shifted her head this way and that so he could peer into her eye. Just his touch diminished the irritation, but did not improve her sight. He eased the bandage back over her eye.

“I am afraid I can do no more than has been done already,” he said. His expression was unreadable. Then he added in what sounded like prophecy: “What sight you lose, others may gain.”

He would explain no further, and she was not reassured. Not one bit.

“We must take leave of you now,” Somial said. “Lhean and the others will be most pleased to hear of your return.”

Enver stuck his hand out again. She clasped it, and he shook with enthusiasm. “It was an honor to meet you.”

Karigan raised an eyebrow, never having encountered an Eletian who would ever admit as much. As far as she could tell, they mostly considered mortals inferior. As if to prove the point, Idris gave her only a cool, enigmatic smile in farewell.

She watched after them as they glided their way from her room and down the corridor. She noted that Enver was huskier than any other Eletian she had met, his stride just slightly less graceful than that of his companions. He was different, more earthly, not entirely Eletian.

She watched until they were out of sight. Watching with only one eye took some getting used to, more effort. She often misjudged the distance of objects, like when she reached for a glass of water and missed. She’d bruised her shoulder on door frames more than once. The loss of peripheral vision on her right side caused her to be startled by people approaching her from certain angles. Vanlynn assured her that, for the most part, she would quickly adjust, her good eye compensating for the bad. If her bad eye did not heal, and her vision did not return, she would have to learn new fighting techniques. Arms Master Drent would be overjoyed and merciless, but she knew that enduring his training would turn her blind eye into an asset.

• • •

As time went on, Karigan gathered details from Mara and Captain Mapstone about what had passed while she’d been away. Because the king and Estora had been betrothed well before she’d gone into Blackveil, the marriage between the two was not a surprise, and she’d long considered it inevitable. It still pinched her on the inside, and yet, not as hard as it might because of Cade. She couldn’t quite remember what had been between her and Cade, but intuition, a certain sense of longing, the creeping grief that caught her unawares and made her tear up without warning, told her it had been significant.

As for the wedding of the king and Estora, the captain had been judicious about what details she gave Karigan. Mara had not been as careful, and it sounded to Karigan like a deathbed wedding. That certain of the king’s advisors were gone due to their complicity in arranging it, only enhanced the impression. That the king had almost died shook her. She still loved him no matter who he had married. Couldn’t help it. She would’ve taken that arrow for him if she could, and not just out of duty.

She also heard about the stepped up aggression by Second Empire. But not all the news was grim. Ben, for instance, was actually learning to ride. It turned out that Robin, the horse who had tormented him so, had actually been choosing Ben as his Rider. The two had finally come to an accord, and Ben’s confidence around horses had risen substantially, though he was unlikely to ever be sent out on message errands. He was too important an asset as a true healer to leave castle grounds, especially with Estora expecting.

Karigan’s thoughts returned to Cade. She walked in circles in her room, gazing at his name inked on her arm. Dark hair. He had dark hair. Winter light pouring through the small window scoured the flesh of her arm of color. “Dark hair,” she muttered. “But brown or black?”

She became aware of Mara then, standing in the doorway. Her friend had that worried look on her face, which she quickly concealed with a smile. Karigan had seen this with the captain, and Ben, too, trying to hide their concern from her. She pulled her sleeve down.

“Just for a moment there,” Mara said, “the way the light was coming in, you were all silvery green.”

Karigan glanced out the snowy window in surprise. It was better than hearing, The way you pace in circles and mutter to yourself looks insane.

“Anyway,” Mara continued, dissipating the odd moment, “I come with good news. Garth has proclaimed your new room in the Rider wing ready, and Master Vanlynn has given you leave to, well, leave. The mending wing, that is.”

“Finally!”

The only possessions Karigan had to take with her were the clothes she wore and the bonewood. Mara, noticing, spoke about going shopping down in the city for any extras Karigan might require. If she hadn’t needed even the most basic things, because she’d been declared dead and her possessions had been returned to her father, it would have been an ordinary conversation. Even so, Mara still managed to get her excited about the prospect of a shopping trip, and they discussed which stores to visit in very much the same manner as they would have before Karigan had ever gone off to Blackveil.