My knee already felt better, which would never cease to amaze me. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. If you hurt yourself again, come to see me. I don’t mind. Healing is why I’m here.”

That triggered a memory, and my eyes narrowed. “General Fletcher said you’re here to monitor the team. What does that mean?”

Havil smiled. “It’s not as bad as whatever you’re thinking. As a field medic, I am part of a squad of soldiers who have been trained to push past pain and get the job done.”

He gave me a pointed look, which I blithely ignored.

He continued, “It’s my job to know when they are silently hurting, either because they’re too proud to admit it or because they feel like it’s too minor to bother with.”

“And you report what you feel to the general? What about personal privacy?”

“My squad knows about my job, and they accept my position in the team. I would not report specifics about you unless you gave me permission, or we were in an immediate, urgent situation where the information would fundamentally change the strategy. As an empath, privacy is very important to me.”

I relaxed slightly. For whatever reason, I trusted him to keep his word. It wasn’t anything I could put my finger on, but I often went with my gut and my gut said he was trustworthy.

“Speaking of privacy,” I said, “can you help me with my shields? General Fletcher seemed to think that empaths were excellent at shielding.”

Havil’s eyes darkened, but he nodded. “We have to be,” he agreed quietly. “Let’s see what we can do.”

We spent twenty minutes trying to improve my mental shields with only marginal success. At least I was getting used to the touch of a mind against mine, for better or worse.

Havil stood to leave, and I stopped him with one final question. “Can I ask you about vosdodite?”

He nodded. “What would you like to know?”

“Hypothetically speaking, what would you do if you wanted to accept the apology but felt like the gift wasn’t necessary? How would you return it without causing offense?”

Havil started shaking his head before I was done asking the question. “The acceptance of vosdodite is the acceptance of the apology. The person giving the gift chooses it specifically for the recipient. To return the gift is to decline the apology.”

“What if the recipient is human?”

“It doesn’t matter. If you give the gift back, a Valoff will assume that you don’t accept the apology.”

“Did Torran tell you to say that?”

Havil’s face softened into a gentle smile. “No, but I’ve worked with him for a long time. If he gave you vosdodite, he wants you to have it, even if you think it’s unnecessary. Don’t insult him by returning it.”