“All right, do what you can for now,” Gabriel replied, stepping away as Laryn returned with the straps.

Rat stood nearby, looking worried. Also filthy, scratched, and considerably worse off than he’d been a few days before. “Lord Phel,” he said, “I am beyond sorry for this scene. I just—”

Gabriel clapped him on the shoulder. “No apologies. I asked you to do what needed to be done and you did. I’m frankly astonished you managed to bring her in at all.”

“Me too,” Rat admitted. “It were a near thing, too. That gel… I’m afraid her mind is plumb gone. Not once did she know me like she used to.”

He sounded so wrecked that Gabriel contained his own distressed reaction. “How did you manage it?”

“Dirty trick,” Rat admitted. “Never woulda worked if she’d been her usual wily self. I set a snare for her. Was all I could do to tie her up, even snared like that. Had to carry her all the way. Kicking, fighting, screaming like I meant to murder her.” He scrubbed a hand over his face, clearly exhausted. “I think I’ll go sleep now—haven’t in two days—now that she’s in good hands.”

“Stay,” Gabriel urged. “Take one of these beds, and Wizard Asa will take a look at you once he’s done with Selly.”

Rat eyed the unconscious woman askance, shaking his head rapidly. “If it’s all the same, Lord Phel, I’ll skip the magicking.”

Gabriel nearly protested that it wasn’t what Rat feared but decided against it. Most of the folk of Meresin were unused to magic, and there would be time to bring them around to the positive benefits. “Come back if you need anything at all,” he urged instead. “Maybe eat something before you sleep, too.” He dug a handful of coins from his pocket.

Rat gave the coins an equally suspicious glare. “That’s far too much, Lord Phel. And where’s a fellow like me to spend that sort of coin, anyhow?”

Again, not the time to explain Nic’s grand plans to bring in opportunities for people to spend coin they earned, to purchase conveniences to improve their lives. “Stop by the kitchen, then, and help yourself to all the food you like—take it with you. And, Rat…” He put a hand on the man’s shoulder, drawing his miserable gaze. “You did well. I know it may not feel like it, but we can help Selly now that she’s here. Something we couldn’t do with her out there.”

Rat nodded. “I know it, and I don’t. Not to disagree with you, Lord Phel, but these measures…” He glanced again at Selly, now bound to the bed, Asa’s magic shimmering brightly to Gabriel’s wizard senses. He had no idea what Rat saw. “Well, I wonder if she wouldn’t have been better off left alone. She was happy in a way, out in the wilds. Is this really an improvement?”

“It will be,” Gabriel averred, hoping he was speaking the truth.

Rat nodded again, clearly unconvinced, then wiped a hand over his face. “I’ll get that food and sleep. It will no doubt make a considerable difference in my attitude.” With that, he turned and left.