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Devana followed Zara onto the hillside below the cave, where Zara focused all her attention on finding the Astra’s heart. She needed to do this quickly. The poison had already had too much time to set in.

“Will you please keep watch for other Varai?”Zara asked Devana.

He nodded, but kept an eye on her as well, watching her curiously as she combed the land for a tiny, leafy, purple plant. She raised an eyebrow at him when she caught him staring at her for the fourth time. He shifted nervously.

“I’ve never been this close to a human,”he admitted.“Not unless I was fighting one. I don’t know anyone else who’s talked to one before.”

Zara attempted a smile. He was probably from outside of Vondh Rav, from one of the many small, remote villages around Kuda Varai.

“The people back home would probably skewer me if they knew what I was doing right now.”

Her smile faltered. His expression was thoughtful, as if he might indeed be rethinking what he was doing.

“The Goddess blesses those who are merciful to the weak,”Zara said. It felt like she’d been saying that often lately. Truthfully, there were not many sayings about the Goddess condoning mercy and kindness. The literature spent a lot more time talking about vengeance and survival and cleverness in battle.

“Weak? You’re not weak.”

“I am right now. And so is Nero.”

“Ravi’s blessings don’t extend to humans and half-bloods,”he said, without any particular inflection or emotion, a mere statement of fact.

Zara’s jaw tightened reflexively. The statement made her angrier than it should have.“The Second High Priestess says they do.”

“She does?”

“Yes.”She did not know if Avan had ever said so publicly, or if it was just something she told Zara because she felt sorry for her. She had been afraid to find out. To this day, she feared finding the true answer.

He seemed to think about that.“The Second Priestess is that human-lover, isn’t she? The one who’s always talking about releasing the slaves? Everyone says she’s cracked in the head.”

“No they don’t. Maybe where you’re from, but not in Vondh Rav. And what’s wrong with wanting to free human slaves?”Zara said, unable to stop herself.

He looked surprised by her tone, and then a touch embarrassed.“It’s… just what people say,”he said apologetically.

It was a few minutes later when the awkwardness in the air had sufficiently cleared for Zara to ask,“Will you go back to your raiding party?”

“They’re all dead. Seven of us left Kuda Varai, but our numbers have been going down ever since we entered Ardani. I’m the last one.”

Zara looked up at him, surprised.“Paladins?”

He nodded grimly.“Mostly.”

“I’m sorry. They’re bad people.”

He shrugged.“I suppose they think they’re only protecting their land, the same as we do.”

Zara shook her head. She didn’t know about other Paladins, but these ones, Theron and the others? They were bad. She thought of the self-satisfied look in his eyes when he’d killed Jishna. She thought of his self-righteous outrage when he’d discovered her Goddess symbols. He did what he did because he liked it. He liked enforcing rules and making others obey. He liked punishing people who wouldn’t or couldn’t do as he wished.

There were so few Varai in Heilune, and so many Ardanians. The Varai posed such a small threat to them. The Paladins hunted them out of hatred, not out of necessity. They hunted them because they’d taken offense, not because they needed to.

“They’re not protecting anyone,”Zara said.“They just hate you.”

“But you don’t hate me?”

She looked up at him. He looked curious, and almost amused.“No,”she said.“I think I may even like you.”

He smiled.

Zara found the plant she was looking for partially hidden beneath a sharp rock. She plucked off half the leaves, then they hurried back to the cave.