I had been out riding that morning, and had taken a rough tumble, so her description of me probably wasn’t inaccurate. She banished Lesharo from my apartment, and made me bathe and wash my hair and put on perfumes as if I were a bride. By the time she’d finished with me, I was beginning to feel as nervous as one. She clucked and muttered, and made an intolerably long task of combing and plaiting my hair. She was still fussing when I heard marching in the street. At last she was satisfied.

“I will wait for Lord Amasai in the Firelord’s private library,” I said. “Please make sure the fire is well fed with stones, and that we have bread and cheese and wine And, Laken – I do not wish to be disturbed when I am speaking with him.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, woman,” she murmured, bowing low, then rushing off to find Amasai.

Lesharo spoke with me briefly while I waited in the library.

“God is good,” he said, taking my hands and kissing them. “He has not only remembered the Quelled, but he has given us a Quelled diviner, and a whole army to fight on our behalf. Oh, lionheart, I feel a new wind blowing, changing the course of our history.”

“Winds can be unpredictable,” I said. “Pray for me while we talk.”

“I pray for you every hour,” Lesharo said, and left. Shortly afterwards Amasai came.

Tall and valorous he was, with his long golden hair past his shoulders now, and his brown soldier’s cloak in noble folds across his army uniform. He crossed the firelit floor between us, looked long into my face, and lay full-length on the carpet before me.

“I greet you, my future Firewoman,” he said, huskily. “I offer you my allegiance.” He stood and stayed there before me, close, his eyes on my face. “Well, Elsha of the Quelled,” he said softly, half smiling, “I never thought I’d see you in this place. And yet I was not wholly surprised when you sent for me. I came as soon as I heard, and we have travelled day and night. I hope your wait was not too trying.”