He was nothing like Zed. I hated him for it, which wasn’t fair, but I did. This man was much older, portly, with red hair, and he spoke about me like I wasn’t even in the room.
“You say something happened, and he won’t tell of it?” the man asked Penny.
“Oh, yes,” she said, wringing her hands. “I found him outside, covered in blood, and he hasn’t uttered a word.”
“Do you know his name?”
“Not even that!” Penny explained. “He’s been silent as the grave.”
The mage studied me dispassionately. He said something as he looked at me, but it was something I didn’t understand. He moved his hand, then, and I felt the panic in me begin to ebb away. After a few minutes I found myself entirely numb to the grief that had clouded every moment since I’d left Lyekeep. I was able to speak, to tell them w
