They were still there when they heard galloping hoofbeats on the road from Menosi and a man shouting, asking for Lord Thero.

Thero sprang to his feet and ran for the road. Micum followed and saw a horseman in uniform rein in, holding something in his arms. Thero reached up and carefully took the large bundle. Micum reached him and saw that it was Mika, white-faced and unconscious, but breathing.

“Found him in the oracle’s cave, my lord,” the horseman told Thero. “Watch his arm, it’s broken.”

“Illior’s Light, again?” Thero gasped as he and Micum strode for Thero’s tent. “He’s in shock. We’ve got to get him warm. Micum, would you bring the healer?”

“Of course!”

By the time he returned with the drysian and her assistant, Thero had Mika laid out on one of the cots, his broken arm positioned on a pillow at his side.

“Maker’s Mercy, what’s happened to him this time?” the drysian exclaimed, kneeling by the bed to examine Mika’s arm. “This is a worse break than last time. Both bones are snapped.”

“Can you set it?” asked Thero.

“Of course, my lord, but the one that was broken before may not ever be quite straight. I’ll do my best.”

Micum stood with Thero on the other side of the cot while she went about setting the bones. As she pulled and twisted to join them, however, Mika woke with a scream of pain and tried to struggle away. Micum caught the boy by the shoulders and held him down. Thero got Mika’s thrashing head between his hands and murmured a spell. The boy’s eyes fluttered closed and he went still, but as he went to sleep, he mumbled something.

“What did he say?” asked Micum.

Thero looked up with new, fierce hope in his eyes. “He said ‘Klia is alive.’ ”

Chapter 25: Secrets, Salves, and a Spade

MICUM and Thero stayed by Mika’s bed through the night.

“What do you think happened to his other one?” whispered Micum as he watched the wizard make another amulet for the boy. “I can’t imagine he’d take it off willingly.”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t.” Thero let the metal cool, then tied it securely around Mika’s neck.

The boy woke just before dawn. “Master!” Mika whispered, looking up at Thero with relief and adoration that made Micum’s heart ache.

“I’m so glad you’re back,” said Thero, and Micum was sure he saw the glitter of tears in the wizard’s eyes.

“I was with Klia and she said she loves you and I was to run away if only one of us could get out,” said Mika, clutching Thero’s sleeve. “She said it was my duty to Skala. I have so much to tell you, Master, and I had a dream—”