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annoying they’d been as boys, calling her names and pulling her hair.
    The former metal worker’s widow was walking with slow, deliberate steps down the main road, steadying herself with two canes. She’d walked the length of the village and back every sunny day for as long as Tessia could remember. When Tessia was a child, and the widow less withered, other older women of the village had joined her and much gossiping had transpired during their circuit. Now the other women said they were too old to venture out, and feared they would trip or be knocked over by the village children.
    Faint childish screams and laughter drew Tessia’s attention to the river, where small figures swarmed around the broad, flat curve of the waterway where she had played as a child. Then she heard her name spoken, and turned in time to see a local farmer nod at her as he passed.
    He had come from the direction of Lord Dakon’s house, now only a few dozen steps away. Entering the alley beside the Residence, she walked up to the side door she and her father had entered the previous day, and knocked.
    The door was opened by Cannia. The woman smiled at Tessia, then glanced around the alley.
    “Father is still resting,” Tessia explained. “I’m to check on the slave and report back.”
    Cannia nodded and beckoned Tessia inside. “Took him some broth this morning. Tried to feed it to him, since he can’t in the state he’s in. Didn’t take more than a few mouthfuls, I reckon.”
    “So he’s awake.”
    “Sure is, though I dare say he wishes he wasn’t.”
    “Could you or someone else assist while I tend to him?”
    “Of course.” She lit a lamp and gave it to Tessia. “Go on ahead and I’ll send someone to help you.”
    Tessia felt her skin prickle slightly as she climbed the stairs to the slave’s room. She could not help wondering where the Sachakan was, and hoping she wouldn’t encounter him. When she reached the slave’s room and found it empty but for her patient, she sighed with relief.
    The man stared at her, his pupils wide. She could not tell if it was from fear or surprise. Nobody had told her his name, she realised.
    “Greetings again,” she said. “I’m here to change your bandages and check if you’re healing properly.”
    He said nothing, and continued to stare. Well, she could hardly expect him to speak, since his jaw had been broken and his head was bound up to prevent it from moving. This was going to be a one-sided conversation.
    “You must be in a lot of pain,” she continued. “I can give you medicine to dull it. Would you like that?”
    The man blinked, then nodded once.
    Smiling, Tessia turned to her father’s bag and brought out a syrup her father used to treat children. The slave would have trouble swallowing, and a draught of powder mixed in water was likely to leave bitter-tasting grit in his mouth if he couldn’t drink it easily. She would have to thin out the syrup with some water, too, and dribble it through a siphon inserted between his lips.
    As the medication ran into the man’s mouth he stiffened, then swallowed. But he didn’t relax again and his eyes were wide as he stared over her shoulder.
    He looks terrified
, she thought.
    A small gust of air told her that the door was open.
    Pulling the siphon out, she stepped back and looked up to see who Cannia had sent to her. The man who gazed back at her was tall, bulky and wearing exotic-looking clothing.
    Her heart froze in horror.
    “I see you’ve come back to check on Hanara,” the Sachakan said, with a smile that lacked any genuine gratitude. “How good of you. Is he going to live?”
    She drew in a breath and somehow found her voice. “I do not know… master.”
    “It won’t matter if he doesn’t,” he told her in a reassuring tone.
    She could not think of anything to say to that, so she said nothing.
Where is the servant Cannia said she’d send?
she thought.
Where’s Lord Dakon, for that matter? Surely he doesn’t let