SEATED, EYES CLOSED in meditation, Yeshe felt a shadow fall across him. Felt it in the sudden coolness on his skin as his intruder blocked the afternoon sun warming his back.
“Master?” came a voice from behind him.
Yeshe suppressed the sigh that fought to escape his lips. That voice had become familiar in these past weeks. Too familiar. Opening his eyes, he unfolded himself from lotus position. He stood, turning to face his visitor.
The young man was taller than Yeshe, but lean and stooped, with sunken eyes above prominent cheekbones, a thrusting jaw, and protruding ears. He reminded Yeshe of a hunched gargoyle looming over him.
“Initiate Marell, to what do I owe this unscheduled visit to my personal garden?”
Marell gave a perfunctory bow, showing no sign of noticing Yeshe’s gentle ad
