‘No more broken nose,’ Reoden said. Since he’d never seen himself before arriving on the ship, and by then his nose was broken, he wasn’t used to this new face. But it did feel good to be able to breathe freely again. ‘Thank you.’ The healer beamed. How could she be so kind to him, yet lock the girl away? It couldn’t simply be because she was a girl. He’d spotted two girls a little older in the causare’s sisterhood. ‘Coming out on deck?’ ‘In a moment,’ he said. Five days had passed and he hadn’t been able to get near the hidden girl. It was so hard to find a moment when the cabin was empty. There was always someone coming and going. Now that Reoden had left the bathing chamber, he had a chance. He slipped into the adjoining cabin, grabbed a chair, climbed up and peered through the grille. The girl was writing, bent over her work. ‘Don’t you get lonely?’ he asked. She jumped, knocked the ink and spilt it. Quick as a cat, she righted the bottle, but ink had already run across the page and discoloured her fingers.
