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Tavi woke up in bed, in a roouests at hand He felt tired, thirsty, but except for a s and felt some kind of short breeches on them

"I don&039;t knohy," his uncle&039;s voice ruht she was going to cut my throat Then she crafted the wound shut instead Said she didn&039;t want me to bleed to death"

A?"

"Yes To tell Isana that they were even"

Tavi sat up and looked around His uncle sat in the bed beside hies wrapped around hie of the sheets to under his arms He looked pale, and bruises marred his shoulders and half of his face, but he sht you&039;d sleep forever"

Tavi let out a glad cry and threw hihtly

Bernard laughed "Careful, careful I&039;ed him back "Good to see you, boy"

Amara, dressed in a blouse and skirts of rich brown, smiled at him "Hello, Tavi"

He flashed the Cursor a smile and looked back at Bernard "But how?" Tavi asked "How did you live?"

"Odiana," Bernard said "That water witch that attacked you in the river Your aunt saved her fro the corpses at the base of the wall She saved me Fade, too"

Tavi shook his head "I don&039;t care who did it, as long as you&039;re all right"

Bernard laughed again "What I ary You?"

Tavi&039;s storew queasy "Not yet, Uncle"

Amara turned to a pitcher nearby and poured water into a cup for Tavi, handing it to hiet liquid back in you, you&039;ll be hungry, right enough"

Tavi nodded his thanks to her and drank His hand, the one that had been broken, felt a little weak, and he switched the cup to the other "You&039;re all right, too?"

She smiled, a wan expression "Alive Soht"

"I&039;er"

A to be sorry for, Tavi You stood against two men who have killed more people between them than anyone I know of It was very brave You shouldn&039;t feel ashaer"

"But without it, Aquitaine gets aith it You can&039;t prove he&039;s guilty, right?"

Amara frowned "I&039;d be careful what I said, if I were you, Tavi If someone overhears you, you may face prosecution yourself for slander"

"But it&039;s the truth!"

She half-ser Without that, it&039;s just a suspicion"

Tavi frowned "That&039;s stupid"

Areed "But look at it this way You saved the Valley and who kno many steadholts beyond it You&039;re a hero"

Tavi blinked "Uh I arave "I filedout toe"

Tavi shook his head "I&039;eous I don&039;t feel like a hero"

Amara&039;s eyes sparkled "Perhaps you will, later"

Isana walked briskly into the roo and a crisp apron "Tavi," she said, her tone brisk "Get back into bed this instant"

Tavi leapt for the covers

Isana frowned at Bernard "And you Bernard, you know I told you to rinned, sheepishly "Oh, right"

Isana stepped over to her brother and touched his te to cause chaos in here any longer Get your lazy bones out of bed and go eat"

Bernard grinned and leaned forward, giving Isana a kiss on the forehead "Whatever the watercrafter orders"

"Bah A well? No fever, no nausea?"

A, and turned her back tactfully when Bernard rose to pull on his trousers and a loose tunic,stiffly "I&039;m fine, Mistress Isana You did a wonderful job"

"Good Now get out The boy needs to rest"

Bernard smiled and ruffled Tavi&039;s hair Then he stepped up beside Amara and took her hand The Cursor blinked and looked down at his hand, then back up at his face She so on," Isana said, and slapped Bernard&039;s shoulder He grinned, and the talked out of the roo very quickly, Tavi noticed And they walked very close together

Isana turned to Tavi and put her fingers on his te?"

"Thirsty, ma&039;am"

She smiled and refilled his cup "I was so worried Tavi, I&039;m so proud of what you have done Everyone in the Valley thinks you&039;re quite the young hero"

Tavi blinked at her and sipped at his drink "Do I you know Have to do anything? Learn to hed and kissed his forehead "Just rest You&039;re a brave person, Tavi, and you think about others more than yourself, when hard times come Always re, but I don&039;t want you to talk to theet so, when you&039;re ready"

"Yes, ma&039;am," Tavi said He watched her walk toward the door, and just before she left, he asked her, "Aunt Isana? Who is Araris Valerian?"

Isana stopped in the doorway, frowning She drew a breath "He he was one of the royal guardsuards A famous swordsman"

"Did he die with the Princeps?"

She turned to face him and said, very quietly, very firo Do you understand?"

"But-"

"Tavi" Isana sighed "I need you to trust me Please, Tavi Just for a little while"

He sed and nodded "Yes, ma&039;am"

Isana smiled at him, wearily "Here are your visitors Re"

She slipped out A a ducked his head to slip beneath the doorway and strode into the rooether with a cloak with a arish, pale red tunic Aleran boots dangled in his belt, though his own feet were bare, and rings decorated every finger His left arood spirits and s his hand in a friendly, , dressed in a loincloth and wearing an Aleran tunic carelessly stained with food and dirt Her long, pale hair had been pulled back into a neat braid, revealing the delicate curves of her cheekbones and neck

"Well, young warrior," Doroga said "I have paid you back for saving hter," Kitai interjected "I aa ruhter, and I paid you back for it But then you saved me as well I find myself still in your debt"

"I didn&039;t do anything," Tavi said

"You shouted a warning to a said "Without it, I would have died" He squeezed Tavi&039;s shoulders, and Tavi briefly thought soain "Thank you"

"But what I did was ss You led a horde against another horde, sir A horde of your own people"

"I set out to repay a said "Finish what you set out to do It is part of being a a smiled at him and rose "Kitai"

Kitai scowled