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returned to his face when he tried again to lean back against the wall. He clenched his teeth and grumbled every time he moved. “I’m no better off than I was before.”
    Anna gazed down at him. “At least you’ve got something in your stomach now.”
    His eyes shot up to her face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. Thank you for the eggs.”
    “I wish I could do more,” she replied, “but Aquilla will be watching me as much as he’s watching you. I have to be careful or I could wind up....”
    “What?” he interrupted. “He wouldn’t do to you what he’s doing to me. He better not or I’ll....”
    Anna smiled at him. “Or you’ll what? No, he won’t do anything to me, but I’m a guest in his house and in his faction. He already knows I don’t approve of what he’s doing to you.”
    “How does he know that?” Menlo asked.
    “I told him,” Anna replied. “I told him I wouldn’t go along with him torturing you and starving you and getting his revenge on you. I didn’t come over to the Avitras to be part of anything like this.”
    Menlo snorted. “I’m sure he loved hearing that.”
    “He’s already warned me more than once not to interfere with you,” Anna went on. “If he found out I gave you food when he’s obviously trying to starve you into submission....well, I really don’t know what he would do. He’d throw me out of the house at the very least.”
    “Charming fellow,” Menlo grunted.
    “He and Penelope Ann have been very kind to me,” Anna replied. “I should have my head examined for repaying their hospitality this way.”
    His head whipped around. “Don’t beat yourself up about doing what’s right. You’re the only person here with a beating heart. You shouldn’t have your head examined for that.”
    “Were all the Guards cruel to you on the march down here from the border?” Anna asked. “Wasn’t even one of them concerned about your treatment?”
    He cocked his head to one side. “Now that you mention it, there was one who seemed more concerned than the others. He didn’t go out of his way to do me favors the way you have, but I did see him talking to Aquilla once. They seemed to be arguing, and this one Guard kept pointing at me, so I guess they were arguing about me. After that, he came over and examined my restraints and my injuries, but he didn’t say anything.”
    “What did he look like?” Anna asked.
    “He was uncommonly tall, even for an Avitras,” Menlo replied. “He was even taller than Aquilla, and he had very bright blue and green feathers. He was very striking.”
    Anna nodded. “That’s Piwaka. He’s Captain of the Guard. He’s a sensible guy, and he’s been in enough combat to appreciate peace. I thought Aquilla was the same way, but I guess I was wrong. I wonder...”
    Before she could finish her sentence, a thump reverberated through the house. The sound of laughter floated through the open door, and Anna recognized Penelope Ann’s voice. Then Aquilla’s voice answered.
    Anna leapt toward the door with the egg shells clutched in her shirt. “They’re coming!”
    Without another word, she ducked out of the store room and barred the door. She had time to rush into the house and dump the egg shells into her own sleeping roll before Aquilla and Penelope Ann entered with their arms around each other.
    Both flushed with delight in their own company, and they kissed right there in the main room. They didn’t see Anna at all until they separated, and Penelope Ann’s smile softened. “Where have you been all day? I’ve been looking for you.”
    Anna straightened her sleeping roll. “I went for a walk.”
    “You won’t believe the story Aquilla just told me,” Penelope Ann breathed. “I couldn’t stop laughing all the way home.”
    Anna looked up. “Really? Was it something that happened on the frontier?”
    Aquilla waved his hand. “Nevermind. I don’t want to tell it again. Let’s eat something now, because I have to meet