It was a victory for Jaydn, the next day, when Cayri confronted the Queen and gave her permission, once again, for Heralds to touch foot upon Sancta grounds. She was departing the next day, and were a Herald to accompany her, they would not be retributed; but any who were to follow after she had departed were to wait a month, so that the people might get used to seeing Heralds again. Shaunah was smiling as she suggested that perhaps Josef might be the one to escort Cayri home, and, reluctantly, she accepted the offer. Josef didn't seem too put out.

The night before Cayri was to leave, Jaydn confronted her in the stables. Kurrem's head was in her lap, and he was stretched out across the rest of the large box-stall.

"You still have to become a Herald, you know," he told her flatly, after a chilly but polite greeting. "You were Chosen, after all."

Cayri gently stroked Kurrem's head and for a moment, it was as if she hadn't heard him. Jaydn felt bad for intruding on their private moment, but this was important, after all. But then Kurrem gave a heavy sigh, and Cayri looked up at Jaydn, eyes red and brimming with tears. She gently shook her head.

"Kurrem's gone back home," she whispered as the Companion's eyes slowly began to glaze. "That was where he belonged. He did what he came back to do." She bowed her head, and Jaydn left them alone, surprised to find tears springing to his own eyes.

Josef couldn't help but feel hurt at the reactions of a great many of Sancta's people. Only one of them, a guardsman, actually recognized him, though with a sharp word from Cayri Josef was let well enough alone. Many of the old grandmothers and a few of the younger generation remembered how they had used to treat Heralds, but a very loud minority of the people of Sancta had bristled in their overlord's defense and spat at his feet or in his face. Cayri reproved them with a snap, but they kept on despite, prowling at the edges of the streets like hungry coyotes at the border of a camp. When he was introduced to Cayri's children, they weren't quite sure what to make of him—only Calivathi had ever seen a Herald, and they had never been treated with much more than a grudging respect even then. And young Cenchar, only seven years old, had never seen nor even much heard of Herald, and so left Josef mostly alone, except to ask if the Herald knew how to play stick pile. Cayri forced a smile and told Cenchar that Josef could play later, then she led the Herald up a long set of stairs.

They reached at the top a beautiful, large room floored in gray marble and roofed almost completely in skylights. In the floor was set a huge and incredibly detailed map of Valdemar, and on the walls were hung paintings depicting myriads of old legends.

"This was Courem's room," she said simply. "And his father's, and his father's before that. It will be Cenchar's room eventually." She looked up into the sky, and Josef followed suit and was forced to appreciate the beauty of it.

"I don't really trust you, yet, Josef," she said eventually. "So many years of hating you, it's hard to get over it. And the Heralds. My people will take their time about accepting you. But I could learn to trust you. I could learn to like you." She met his eyes and he could see how earnestly serious she was. "I haven't had real friends in so long, Josef. I need someone."

He strode towards her and touched her face gently. "You're beautiful, did you know that?"

She smiled. "Is flattery usually part of friendship?"

Josef didn't return the smile. "I'm not the type to waste words, Cayri. But you are beautiful. And strong, and not too proud and stubborn to admit you make mistakes." He gently leaned forward to kiss her.

She let him for a moment, then pulled away. "This might create more problems than it solves, Josef."

It was then that he smiled. "It might solve a few, too. Didn't you say your children needed a father?"

"I'm not easy to live with, you know," she warned. "And I told you, it'll take me awhile to get over those years of hatred. But I can try." Josef smiled, and she let herself succumb to his kiss.

"Maybe there was always something meant for you beyond what you already had," Josef murmured. "But we all know that the truth is hard to bear." And then they caught something, a sudden whisper on the wind, and then it was gone past recollection.

:Don't we all know it.: