Marciana looked at Lia and then back at Kieran. “Men are insufferable when they are hungry. Have you eaten since this morning? You have not. Reome, my dear, can you see to some food? Thank you so very much. I will not forget your role in freeing me. I will safeguard you. Thank you.” After Reome left, Marciana folded her arms and squinted at Kieran. “Did my brother treat you any worse than this after you saved his life, Lia?”

Lia also folded her arms and glared down at Kieran. “He has not retched on you yet, Ciana, but give his stomach a moment after he is eaten, and I will hazard he just may.”

“I am doomed to never walk again and you mock me,” Kieran said, closing his eyes and shaking his head. His face contorted with pain and he writhed on the bed.

Marciana approached and grabbed his hand and squeezed it fiercely. “Then I shall be your crutch, your stay, your helper. If you cannot walk because of me, then I will walk for you. If you were not in that tower today, then I would have taken a knife in my back. When I saw you coming up the stairs, when I looked into your eyes, I knew the Medium had summoned you to save me.” She turned and smiled at Lia. “How many times have I heard your story, Lia. That if you trust in the Medium, if you think and believe and hope, you will be saved.” Tears brimmed in her eyes and she shook her head firmly to master them. “I will not cry. I have shed too many tears this last fortnight. If I start again, I fear I may never stop and I will die of drowning.” She swallowed and breathed deeply. “I must never see Dieyre again. Please, Lia. You must keep him from me. I was being broken by that evil man, that Dochte Mandar. I nearly surrendered to his will. I was so thirsty, and all they would offer is this sweet cider that dulls your mind. He used a kystrel. I could feel it for what it was. I knew it for what it was, but I was powerless to resist it. It changed my feelings, Lia. I hated Dieyre for kidnapping me. I hated him for taking me away from those I care for.” She shook her head again. “Now I am in love with him against my will, and these conflicting feelings are torturing me. I know they are not real. I know they were planted in my soul by a foul and evil man. But they are part of me now. I only hope that when I pass the maston test, I will be able to banish them forever.”

Marciana looked at Lia pointedly. “As you passed it. When did you, Lia? I did not know you were a maston too until you made the sign.” There was a look of awe in her face.

“After you left Muirwood in the night.” Lia felt abashed, seeing not only awe but a little hint of jealousy in her eyes. She rubbed the spot on her shirt where the kishion’s knife had ripped the fabric but could not pierce her chaen. Being a maston had saved her life.

“Does Colvin know?”

She nodded and the grin on Marciana’s face was blinding in its intensity. “You must save him, Lia. You told me that he and Ellowyn were hostages at Dochte Abbey. That is where the Dochte Mandar come from. I do not know if they move in secret or not, but they are powerful with the Medium. There are rumors that they are coming to take over the Abbeys in our kingdom, to change our customs. In Dahomey, I heard from some of the knights that were escorting me here that they open the Abbeys for all to enter. That the secret rites of the mastons are being changed and proclaimed openly. They insist all must receive these rites. They say that we are keeping knowledge from the people to hoard power. There are riots from those demanding to be let inside the Abbeys. It is beginning to happen in our kingdom as well.”

“But what about the Leerings protecting them?” Lia said, angered.

Marciana looked sad. “They are failing. Many learners have returned home and said the Leerings are not working any more. Lia, the Blight is coming quickly. I can feel it. We do not have much time to stop it.”

Lia saw the nervous look in her eyes, the wild fear. She hugged her tight, grateful that she could face Colvin with the knowledge that his sister was safe. It was a burden she no longer had to carry.

It was Kieran who spoke next. “You cannot stop it. The Blight comes by Twelfth Night. I was alive when the Blight came to Pry-Ree. I do not wish to be here when it comes again. We leave in ships for another shore. It is less than a fortnight from now.”

Marciana straightened and looked him firmly in the eye. “If that is where the mastons go, then so will I.” She squeezed Lia’s arms. “Fetch my brother, Lia. Bring Colvin and Ellowyn back to Muirwood.”

Lia wished she could tell Marciana the truth about herself. She opened her mouth to try, but the Medium forced her not to speak the words. Truly, she had not really expected it would let her. “I will use the orb to find a ship to Dahomey. I will leave in the morning.”