‘Do you need my help?’
‘Not really. You’re a distraction for my foul mouth.’ She couldn’t help but smile. ‘And it’s hard enough concentrating when I know who I’m working on. How has it come about that I am repairing our emperor?’
Elka smiled. ‘It’s a long story,’ she said, just as Loethar said the same thing. She threw an amused glance at him, which he returned.
‘Well, you can tell me all about it in between more curses because what I’m about to do is not going to be without discomfort,’ Janus said to Loethar.
‘I understand.’
Janus glanced at Elka. ‘Just light me a fire and get some water on to boil. I shall take it from there. I want to feel your tits on my —’
And to the roar of Loethar’s amusement, Elka stomped away to find kindling.
They’d been heading north since they began walking. It was getting cooler the higher they went but it was still relatively mild — enough that Evie had rolled up her cloak and tied it to hang at her side. She felt ridiculous in this garb but the more she looked around at this landscape, the more foreign it all felt. The growing pit in her stomach had begun to assure her that she was nowhere close to anything familiar.
Corbel, as he now insisted she call him, looked anything but awkward. In fact, he seemed to stand even taller than she recalled and was that a slight swagger in his walk? Where was the withdrawn, closed individual she had loved all these anni? Now there was a glint in his eyes and a smile playing constantly at the corner of his lips. He was happy, Evie realised, and almost childish in his excitement, pointing out this plant or that landscape, none of it of any interest to her.
She was still trying to come to terms with the alienation she was feeling, not to mention the anger at him as much as fear. And yet instead of explaining he insisted they walk.
‘Reg!’
‘Corbel,’ he replied.
She took a breath to ensure her words came out calmly. ‘Corbel, where exactly are we going? And why exactly am I here?’
‘I’ve tried to explain —’
‘Except you’ve explained nothing,’ she huffed, catching up with him. ‘Slow down. I can’t walk as fast as you.’
He halved his long stride with obvious effort. ‘I wish there could have been a better way to ease you back into your world.’
‘My world?’ she hurled at him, her voice full of accusation. ‘My world is the city I belong in, where I’m a healer and everything makes sense.’
Corbel stopped. ‘Nothing made sense! Nothing. And you know it. You were the misfit there. You said it often enough. The world you belong to, Evie, is here. It was called Denova and your place of belonging is Penraven. And yes, you are still a healer.’
‘Have you any idea how this feels?’ she begged.
He gazed at her for several moments and she saw only pain in his expression. Finally, he nodded. ‘I do. I have lived with that confusion and despair every minute of the last twenty anni, looking after you in a strange land.’
She hadn’t expected that. She bit back on the ready retort as she considered his words … ‘I … I haven’t considered it from that point of view. I’m trying to wrap my mind around the notion that this is where you come from. Rationality and science is my life. Magic has no place.’
‘Really?’ he asked. ‘Search your heart, Evie, and perhaps you can privately call yourself a liar. I won’t.’
She glared at him. ‘That’s a ridiculous accusation.’
‘Is it?’ He shrugged. ‘You can’t keep pretending what you did every day to save lives was science. Both of us know that’s a lie. Perhaps you couldn’t explain the strange skill you have to heal people, but I can assure you, Evie, it wasn’t all scientific training. I’m taking you to a place where you can ask all the questions you need and you will get a far better insight than I can provide.’
‘Where? To the man you call Sergius?’
He shook his head. ‘He told me never to look for him should I ever bring you back. He made me promise that when I came back I would first take you to meet someone called the Qirin.’
Her mistrust deepened. ‘Who and what is the Qirin?’
Corbel shrugged. ‘I don’t know. But I suppose we shall soon find out.’
‘Corbel, I’m tired.’
‘It’s not far and I promise you a roof over your head tonight, perhaps even a bath.’
She felt deeply weary. ‘I admit that is a seductive promise.’
He began walking again. ‘There,’ he said, as she clambered up beside him.
Her gaze narrowed as she focused on the buildings in the distance, nestling among an almost perfect crescent of rocky outcrops. ‘It’s beautiful.’
‘The mountains in the background are called Lo’s Teeth.’
‘They look daunting.’
‘They are. I’ve never been further north than this region. But people called the Davarigons do live in the mountains.’
She shook her head in wonder. ‘Mountain dwellers?’ She shook her head again. ‘I can’t —’
‘I know, Evie. I really do understand how hard this is. Please don’t cry.’
She bit her trembling lip. ‘I’m sorry. This is all so impossible to calculate.’
‘Don’t calculate. Analyse none of it. Nothing will make sense. If you can accept that it’s not worth wasting the energy trying to understand but instead just try to blend in as best you can, I promise you that you will adapt.’
‘Yes, but what if I don’t want to?’ she snapped.
Corbel sighed silently but she saw his frustration. ‘Evie, I don’t want to keep saying this because it sounds as though I’m the villain here, but you have no choice. I can’t say it any plainer. Your pathway was mapped out a long time ago. Your father chose it. He also chose mine, to protect you until you could return to the land of your birth.’
She nodded, swallowed a soft sob of her own frustration and confusion. His voice was so tender. She had never questioned his friendship or his honesty. Evie lifted her chin and made a silent promise that she would trust Corbel de Vis until this nightmare ended. She had to believe it would, even though this place he called Denova certainly looked and felt real enough.
Evie sniffed. ‘So what is this place you’re taking me towards?’
The anxiety in her friend’s eyes lessened and she saw a sense of relief relax his expression. He had obviously thought she was going to crack. Grinning crookedly, he said, ‘A convent. There you will have your bath and I hope there is where you will find some answers. A word of warning,’ he cautioned. ‘If we’re going to blend in, we both need to leave our most recent lives behind. Forget the hospital, Evie, forget everything you know. In order for you to survive, I need you to trust me and do your utmost to avoid all mention of what has gone before for you. Today is the first day of your life.’
‘To survive? That sounds scary.’
He nodded. ‘We should be scared. There are people who wish you dead.’
She looked at him, aghast. ‘And