Waterstone grinned, “Yes. Your world is truly astonishing. And yet it is only a few days walk from here.”
“But behind huge stone walls and scores of guards. They are just as impenetrable to us as we are to them.”
For a few minutes, they sat in companionable silence, drinking their wine and watching a flock of ibis wheel across the afternoon sky and disappear into the trees further down the river.
“Tarkyn,” said Waterstone quietly, “There is one other thing I would like you to show me, if you wouldn’t mind. Could you show me what happened when you defied your father to protect Danton from the whipping? Although in some ways I hated Markazon, I also respected his dedication and would like to see the softer side of him that you knew.” He looked down and picked up a couple of pebbles, “You
