“Yes, I’m coming, now,” he replied.

Frisha then noticed Rezkin standing by his bed unbuckling his swords. She lowered her voice to a whisper and asked, “Is he mad?”

Tam looked uncertain as he shrugged and whispered back, “How can you tell? He doesn’t show it, but he didn’t really say.”

Frisha pushed her way past Tam and asked in a tentative voice, “Um, Rez, will you be joining us for dinner?”

Rezkin did not look up as he was removing his boots. “No, I asked for my meal to be brought up.”

“Oh. Are you angry?” she asked as she worried at her bottom lip.

“Do I have cause to be angry?” he asked, finally looking at her. He could not think of a reason to be angry. No one had attacked him or his friends, so far. He supposed he could be angry with the riverboat manager, but it would be pointless anger. Perhaps something had happened to Tam and Frisha in his absence. He waited for the young woman to inform him of what should be upsetting him.

Frisha could tell, now, that Rezkin was more upset than she realized. His cold demeanor was obviously a defensive mechanism to deal with their poor treatment of him the previous day. She felt terrible. All he had done was try to help while asking for nothing in return. Rez had been consistently polite and courteous, and she and Tam had treated him with suspicion and accusations. If it had been her instead of Rez, she would have been crying or screaming or both.

“I’m really sorry, Rez,” she said. “We shouldn’t have accused you of … well … anything. You deserve our thanks, and we have treated you with scorn. I am very ashamed of my actions.”

Rezkin cocked his head as he looked at her curiously. “You had a limited understanding of the proceedings. Based on the knowledge you had at the time and the conclusions you drew from said knowledge, which were not completely unreasonable, your response is understandable. You reacted with regard to your morals and the law. For that, I must commend you. Had you a full understanding of the circumstances at the time, I am sure you would have reacted differently.”

Frisha blinked at him several times. “Is it really that easy for you? You just … look at it from our perspective and accept it?” Rezkin was looking at her with complete sincerity, she could tell. He really did not hold a grudge against her. “You have to be the most compassionate and understanding man I have ever met, Rezkin. I don’t think I could be so forgiving in your position.”