---
When the stretcher turned, the old woman at Vorak's side spoke without looking at Kai. "Yavri?" she said.
"I hear," came the answer from the shade under the lintel.
Vorak's helmet turned toward the voice. He did not try to step the distance with his eyes. "You sit," he said. "Good. I would be angry if you made me angrier."
"I sit," Yavri said. "A voice told me to. A crown or a king will tell me when to stand."
Vorak's gauntlet flexed once in a way that told the old woman what to write later in a book. He lowered his hand and did the only graceful thing left: he began to go.
"General," Kai said.
Vorak stopped.
"Tomorrow," Kai said, "I will give you an answer about Yavri's long sitting. The answer will not be 'walk now.' It will be 'wait until a royal arrives' or it will be 'send a royal to speak with me where stone listens for truth.' Choose which story you prefer to carry back."
