"Holly," I said.
"O my guest, Holly."
"Had it not been for the foresight that brought you and the lady Khania to the edge of yonder darksome river, certainly we should not have been alive, venerable Simbri, a foresight that seems to me to savour of magic in such a lonely place. That is why I thought you might have described yourself as a magician, though it is true that you may have been but fishing in those waters."
"Certainly I was fishing, stranger Holly—for men, and I caught two."
"Fishing by chance, host Simbri?"
"Nay, by design, guest Holly. My trade of physician includes the study of future events, for I am the chief of the Shamans or Seers of this land, and, having been warned of your coming quite recently, I awaited your arrival."
"Indeed, that is strange, most courteous als
