POV: Caius

The voice comes from directly behind us, calm and ancient and completely certain. I turn my head while still holding the phone to my ear. The healer is already on her way, but something tells me she will not be the one who decides what happens next.

The woman standing there is small. She moves with the unhurried pace of someone who has never needed to rush in her entire life. Her hair is silver-white and braided simply down her back. Her clothes are plain, the kind of fabric that has traveled far. But it is her eyes that stop me. They are dark and steady and carry...