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“I’ll be gentle,” Crow said. “It won’t hurt. But you must let me make sure that you don’t mean us harm, or you’ll be sent back to your village. That’s the deal.”

Naika held out her hand immediately, unconcerned. Apparently she had nothing to hide.

When Crow took her hand, her eyes went hazy, as if she was dreaming. Both of them went silent. The process took less than ten seconds, and then Crow took her hand away. She raised her eyebrows a little at whatever she had seen, but didn’t comment. Basira reluctantly held out her hand next.

A small crowd of curious Varai had gathered. Nero had come to stand at Zara’s side.

“You did not let her test me when I came here,” Zara murmured to Nero, motioning toward Crow.

“I didn’t need to.”

“But you could have let her, and then you would have no doubt.”

He frowned, giving her a mildly offended look. “I would have let you do what you did to me the other night if I’d doubted you?”

Zara smiled.

When Crow finished, she gave a short nod, and someone handed her something. Zara realized it was a tiny key for the lock on Naika’s collar.

“You have a key?” Zara asked, surprised.

Nero nodded. “The Paladins sometimes use the collars on us. Fortunately, the ones the Paladins use all have a standardized key.”

Naika paused, stunned, as Crow unlocked her collar. Experimentally, she conjured a flicker of mage light, causing the Varai to squint and shield their eyes. Zara guessed it was the first time she’d cast a spell unchaperoned since the time she’d healed Farhana. Naika glanced up at Zara, raising an eyebrow in surprise at this turn of events.

“I never thought I would find someone who hates Paladins as much as Vaara does,” Crow murmured. “That was unexpected.”

Devana moved to stand in front of Naika again.“Translate for me,”he said to Zara, and began signing slowly.Well met. I am Devana. Do you want to learn our language?

Zara watched the group with satisfaction as the morning came and went. Devana was taking Naika around the camp, pointing to various objects and then teaching her the correlating sign. At the same time, Inaya and Farhana had been eyeing each other from across the camp. Eventually, Inaya had gathered the courage to approach Farhana. It wasn’t long before they were giggling and chasing each other. Nero was right—they were about the same age. Both of them seemed immensely pleased to have another young girl to play with. And Basira ended up deep in conversation with one of the other Varai who happened to speak Ardanian.

Once, the idea of conversing casually with humans would have seemed ridiculous to the Varai, Zara was certain. A week ago, they might have refused to speak to Basira completely. Perhaps Zara’s presence had desensitized them to the presence of humans.

“This is all so strange,” Zara said after a while.

“Yes,” Nero said, rubbing his chin. “I was only planning on having one human here. This is getting out of hand.”

Zara thought for a long moment, then turned to him. “Do you know why I stayed in the village even after I began to fear the Paladins, Nero?”

“Why?”

“Because I thought I could help.”

He gave her a careful look. “Help the Varai, or the villagers?”

“Both. Maybe I do not have to choose after all.” She looked over at Basira and Naika. “I thought I could help since I speak both languages. I thought I could be a bridge. But maybe I am not the only one who can help. Naika is a mage. Basira is respected among the villagers. You are human and Varai. I think the three of us can bring the Varai and the Ardanians together. If we work together, I think we could get rid of Theron and the Paladins.”

Nero’s eyebrows tipped down a little. “You’re being very optimistic.”

“You are not being optimistic enough,” she countered. “Can you not see it?” she said, gesturing to Inaya and Farhana as they both burst into giggles again. “You have already become friends with some of the humans. It is not impossible.”

“We can’t get rid of the Paladins. More will come to replace them. They’ll never really be gone.”

“But what if the Ardanians were on your side? What if you could show them that you can live beside each other in peace?”

“I admire your confidence, but you’re very mistaken if you think the humans would ever defend us from the Paladins.”

“It is a better idea than kidnapping one of them to keep as a hostage.”