Adelaida was left alone with Derzhava. Batuk had just left them, though she felt that he remained just outside. She laid the shivering, shuddering form of the seer on a bed of kaftans and old banners that smelled faintly of camphor. Looking around, she found nothing that she could use as a towel, only a filthy rag on the rim of a rusted metal bowl with dirty water in it.
Wartime hygiene, she mused to herself.
Pouring the water on the packed earth, she threw aside the rag and took off her own head-covering. The temple rings got tangled in her curls, which she noticed were shamefully oily and unwashed, and she tugged at both with irritation. She realized that her hands were shaking visibly.
She took a breath.
Making a decision suddenly, she pulled on the edge of her head-covering, tearin
