I handed him the flints, and watched while he lit the fire. He had beautiful hands, smooth and pale and incredibly clean. I hid my own black-stained fingers in my ragged sleeve, and asked, “Does no one steal from these caves?”

He glanced across the curling smoke at me, and smiled. “Look on the outside of the cave, Elsha.”

I went out, stooping under the low entrance, and looked back at the overhanging rock In the evening dimness it glistened with ice. On the rock face, carved deep, was the shape of a human eye, and in the centre of it was the sign of flame. My hand went to the golden disk about my neck. Wondering, I returned to the cave.

“That sign is enough to stop all but myself and the Firelord entering,” Amasai said. “And you, now.”

We were crouching together near the fire, both of us holding our hands towards the warmth, and he looked sideways into my face, and kept his eyes on me a long time. Under his gaze I felt vulnerable and afraid, and was more than ever aware that this was his world, and I was a stranger here.

“The Firelord’s sign is sacred, Elsha,” he explained quietly. “There is not a soul in the world would pass beneath his sign without his knowing. And there is no soul would lay a hand on you, as long as you wear his sign. Wear it always. It is your shield and your guard. But without this sign, you are shelterless. Do you understand?”

I nodded.

“There is much you have to learn, Elsha,” he said lightly, smiling again. “Tonight you will learn how to cook hezzin, our dried bullock meat. You are not too tired? You have walked all day.”

“I am not tired, lord,” I said, giving him a small smile tinged with pride. “I could walk twenty days on end, and still it would not equal one day’s toil in Siranjaro mine.”

He looked startled for a moment, and one fair eyebrow rose. “So. He chose you for your strength, did he, Elsha of the Quelled?”

I blushed again, and shook my head. “I do not know why he chose me, lord,” I said.

His lips curved, and he stood up and went outside to unload the mule.

Under his instructions I washed my face and arms and hands, and cooked our meal. Then I sat in the cave entrance and waited while he ate. I faced the deepening night, and felt the evening wind, cold as ice on my face. The cut from the whip still ached. I put my hand inside my dress and drew out the woman-stone. It lay on my palm, black as the night against my skin, humming with firestone power. Now it was all I had, of Siranjaro, my home, and him. I lifted it to my cheek, and sobbed. I tried to cry quietly, so the man in the cave would not hear. But he came out, crouched in the cold shadows at my side, and put his hand on my shoulder. “Come in by the fire, Elsha,” he said softly. “Come and eat. I’ve finished now.”