He stopped talking, but she pieced his logic together. “So you think that if anyone survived to be found, they would have been with us.”

He nodded reluctantly. “Most likely. But we found that dragon off by herself.”

“And Warken’s body.”

“And the body,” he agreed. “That says to me that most everything that was in our area when the wave hit was carried by the wash to this area.”

She was silent for a time. “Heeby and Rapskal? The copper dragon?”

“Probably dead and on the bottom. Or buried under debris. Dead dragons that size wouldn’t be hard to spot.”

“And Sedric?”

His silence was longer than hers had been. Finally he said, “Speaking bluntly, Alise, the keepers survived because they’re tough. Their skin can stand up to these waters. They all know how to climb a tree if they can get to one. They’re made for this life. Sedric wasn’t. There was no muscle to that man to begin with, and his long days of lying abed, sick or not, would only have weakened him more. I try to imagine him swimming in that wave, and I can’t. I fear he’s gone. It’s not your fault. I don’t think it’s my fault, either. I think it’s just what happened.”

Did he mention fault only because he secretly knew it was her fault? “I brought him into this, Leftrin. He wasn’t your idea of tough, I know. But in his own way, he was strong, capable, and very competent. He was Hest’s right hand. I’ll never know why he decided to send him with me.” Her words stuttered to a halt. Unless Hest had believed that she deserved the kind of watching over her that Sedric had tried to provide.

“I wasn’t saying he wasn’t a good man, only that I doubted he was a good swimmer,” Leftrin said gently. “And we don’t have to give up hope. We’ve got a strong man looking for him. I think Carson wants to find him as badly as you do.”

“I’m grateful to him. I don’t know how to thank him for being so determined.”

Leftrin gave a small cough. “Well, I think he’s hoping that Sedric will do the thanking. Them being the same kind of men and all.”

“The same kind of men? I can’t think of two men more unlike.”

Leftrin shot her an odd look and then shrugged. “Like enough in the ways that matter to them, I’m thinking. But let’s let that go. It’s enough to say that Carson won’t give up easily.”

“SO WHY DID you do it, then? If you didn’t think you were, well, in love with him?”