Leyla and Raphael followed the pair into the gardens, and it struck her anew that the Prorex rarely spoke without a clear intention or necessity. Had anyone else landed in an entirely new world, they would not have stopped asking questions, but Raphael could not only read situations, he had a seemingly infinite amount of patience. Even now, he could tell by the tone of the child and Deri's reaction that something was wrong, but he had obviously surmised that if he just followed, he would soon find out what was happening.

They turned left at a horse-shaped fountain, when a small whimper reached them at the same time as a little boy came into view. Sitting up against a tree with bright blue moss wrapped around its trunk, the boy who looked about six years old, was cradling his arm and biting his lip. Two young men and three children were standing around him with worried expressions. The children and all started talking at once when they saw Deri approaching.

"Mahsap! Please hurry!"

"Taha is hurt!"

"He fell from that branch way up there!"

Deri held up his hand for silence, then looked to the adults. The one with a trim goaty stepped forward: "He has dislocated his arm, Mahsap. We were going to carry him to Seyuba, but it hurt him more when we moved him."

"I see." The Mahsap looked back to see if Seyuba was coming, but there was no one in sight. Then he leaned down to touch Taha's hair gently. "Be at ease, Seyuba will be here soon. We will fix this before your mother can hear of it. You know that cousin of mine will never let me go if she finds you've been hurt in my home."

Taha looked up at Deri with smiling eyes and quivering lip. "Yes, Mahsap."

"It's dislocated?" Raphael asked beside Leyla. She nodded, then watched in surprise as he moved to Deri's side. Pointing first to the boy and his arm, Raphael brought his hand to his chest.

"You can fix it?" Deri asked, surprised.

The Prorex nodded, before Leyla could recover from her own surprise. In the next moment, Deri moved aside for Raphael to kneel beside the boy, his expression gentle.

"Little man, I'm just going to have a feel first, okay?" He reached out slowly, his long fingers gently touching the small shoulder.

"Ah," the boy cringed, doing his best not to cry out.

Raphael pulled his hand back, then looked over his shoulder at her. "I'm going to need you to distract him."

"Distract him?" Leyla repeated dumbly. How was she meant to distract a small child? She didn't even have a sword.

"It's not that difficult," Raphael said, seeing her lost expression. "A story, a children's song, a simple game, anything will do."

Stories, songs, games... she supposed most people would know such things, but Leyla couldn't remember learning anything of the sort. The orphans used to play games, of course, but she was never allowed to join in. They had probably listened to stories and songs too, but Leyla had always studied on her own, out of sight. "I don't know any."

Raphael, who had turned back to Taha, was silent for a moment before he pointed to the second young man standing a few paces away. "He has a fan. Can you make the leaves dance the way you did the rose petals in the Greenlands?"

Leyla remembered the day she had performed for that bastard Green King after spending a night in prison. It was the same day that Alec had come to her room. Don't think of him.

"Can I borrow your fan?" Leyla asked the young man to her left. He raised his brows, but handed the fan over obediently.

"Will he be able to do it, La-La?" Deri asked from her other side.

She had no idea whether Raphael had ever set an arm before, but she had never seen him fail at a task he undertook. "Don't worry," she told the Mahsap, then she addressed the other children who were watching Raphael with wide eyes: "Shall we make the leaves dance for Taha?"

"YES!" Four little faces nodded with enthusiasm.

"Then everyone please bring me a handful of fallen leaves."

Within a few moments there was a pile of blue, pink, yellow and green leaves at her feet. Leyla raised the fan to her chest and caught Taha's eye. Although beads of perspiration had appeared on his forehead from pain, he was watching her intently.

"Alright, Taha. These leaves will dance for you now." Leyla flicked her wrist, opening the fan in one fluid motion. Forward, right, left, she moved as if thrusting a sword, turning the fan in rapid motions all the while.

"Woah!" The kids gasped as the leaves began to move. Raphael was at Taha's side, shifting his right hand to the boy's limp wrist as the show continued.

Leyla moved faster, her skirt parting and fluttering as she twirled around the now shifting leaves. Taha's eyes widened as she brought her arm down and sent blues, pinks and greens twirling into the sky. Raphael used the moment to give one, hard, push.

"Ah!" The boy yelped.

Leaves fluttered to the ground as Taha touched his arm that was now back in its socket. "It doesn't hurt!"

Raphael tussled his red curls, before standing up and turning to Deri. "He should rest a little more before using that arm."

Leyla translated quickly, and a grinning Deri nodded in agreement. "We will take good care of him."

As the children crowded around the now laughing Taha, Raphael came back to stand beside her.

"That fan trick is more useful than one would imagine," he said with such seriousness that it made her smile.

"Not as useful as knowing how to set bones."

Having instructed two men to take Taha back to his quarters to rest, Deri came back to their side and held out one of his golden bracelets to Raphael. "A token of my appreciation."

Leyla knew by now that she did not have to translate the obvious. Raphael took the slim arm band and bowed. Then turning the bracelet over once, he pushed the two bird heads that met and curled in separate directions together, making the bracelet smaller. "A Prorex can only wear heirlooms and items gifted by his wife, but we can't insult our host by refusing this." He took Leyla's hand and slipped the gold bangle on her wrist. "Tell the Mahsap I have given it to you as my thanks for introducing me to a wise leader."

Leyla looked down at the bracelet and wished she could refuse. The gold was heavy and would swing while shooting an arrow... but Raphael was right, it would be an insult to the Mahsap to refuse it. Leyla held her wrist up and smiled at Deri:"Raphael says he'd like me to have it as payment for introducing him to a wise leader."

"Hah!" Deri burst out with laughter, then nodded vigorously. "Indeed, indeed. You should wear it Utan La-la. I never did manage to get you to accept a gift from me previously, this has worked out well indeed!"

Pulling the bracelet further up her arm, Leyla was uncertain if she should be impressed or wary of the way Raphael could manipulate any given situation. His solutions, his wording, everything was so precisely thought out, so expertly executed and all that in mere moments. She remembered how he had slipped a pill in her mouth in the Greenlands, then proceeded to convince half a dozen onlookers that he snapped her neck. With her hands covered in Alec's blood, Leyla had barely managed to have a cohesive thought, but Raphael had plotted the perfect escape within seconds. And then later, after Alec got married and Mira tried to kill them...

"We thank you for your hospitality, Mahsap," Leyla spoke quickly. She didn't want to remember; she wanted to move. "But it will be best if we take our leave."

"We, eh?" Deri raised a brow, his gaze travelling between them. Then he sighed, "I have a feeling Jara is in for some disappointment."