“There’ll be a new order,” I said, “founded on the dignity of the Quelled and their equality with the Chosen. Envoys will go to every mine to instruct the overseers and to ensure that the new laws are adhered to. Branding will be abolished. There will be hospitals for the miners, schools for the children, and time to rest. Women will choose their own husbands, and children under fourteen will be forbidden to work. Overseers will carry no whips, and disputes will be settled between the chief overseer and representatives from the mine. The Quelled will have a voice, Lesharo. A life.”

“But how will you know that the overseers keep to the new laws?” he asked. “Once the envoys leave, anything could happen in the mines. The Quelled could be worse off than ever.”

“That is why I need you, Lesharo. You have a way with people, and can reassure, organise, and lead them. I want you to travel to every mine and talk to the Quelled. I want each mine to choose an ambassador who will report to me in Kasimarra three times a year. The ambassadors must be trusted delegates, whom the Chosen can’t intimidate or bribe. They’ll give me true reports. And I’ll visit the mines myself if I suspect disorder. Will you do this thing for me, Lesharo? I will give you everything you need: a horse, clothes, gold, guards to protect you on your journeys—”

He leaned close, and pressed a finger to my lips. “I don’t need persuading, Elsha. I will do anything I can for you. Though I think I’d rather walk than ride. Horses are irksome things if you’re not used to them. I’m still raw in places from the ride here.”

We laughed together, and he reached across the table to a piece of fruit. He sliced some for me. We were having our evening meal, and I still was not used to eating with him. Being with Lesharo, seeing his slow smile and his gentle ways and beautiful hands, reminded me piercingly of Teraj.

My heart and mind were with Teraj every moment, and I longed for his company. He had sent me one treasured letter, and I kept it on me always, bound about the dolphin with a strand of his dark hair and a scarlet cord. I dared not send a letter back to him, for fear of Maelmor’s spies.

And Lesharo too had his yearnings. He had a wife now, delegated to him not long after I had left Siranjaro. He said he had grown to love her, and they had a son. Strangely, our other loves touched not the bond between Lesharo and me; we were kindred souls together, like brother and sister. There was still that easiness between us, and nothing had changed with us since Siranjaro.