"Can you read?" Onua asked Numair one day over lunch. During the past two weeks, their meetings had become more and more frequent until they were eating lunch together every day. Onua enjoyed her time with Numair, which only made it all the more painful when she realized that she would be meeting with her trader the next day and leaving soon after. She was not looking forward to parting ways with Numair, and had therefore been spending a fair bit of time thinking about a way to avoid that eventuality.

"Yes. Why?" Numair asked, looked surprised by the question.

"Write? Work with numbers?"

"Yes, both."

She nodded in satisfaction. She'd expected as much from the way he spoke (she didn't think anyone who hadn't gone to school would use words like "skeuomorph" and "catoptromancy" in everyday conversation). "Can you ride a horse?"

"Very badly," he replied.

"What about your Gift? How strong is it?"

"Strong enough for my purposes," he said cautiously. "Strong enough to tell when someone's using eyebright on me."

Onua blushed, pulling her itching fingers out of the pouch at her belt. Eyebright lent her the ability to see when someone was lying. "Sorry," she said. "I wanted to make sure you were telling the truth."

"It's all right," he said, still looking wary. "What's so important that you had to use your Gift to be sure I wasn't lying?"

"I have a proposition for you," she said.

"What kind?"

"I'm meeting with that trader tomorrow," she told him. "Whatever business I end up doing with him should be wrapped up in no more than a day or two."

Numair looked a little sad. "I know. You're leaving soon. What does that have to do with me?"

Onua took a deep breath. "I want you to come with me."

"What?"

"Come with me back to Corus. You said once that you wanted to go there but ran out of money and got stuck here. Well, this is your chance to get unstuck. I'd like someone to keep me company on the way home, and when we get there I can set you up with a job as a scribe or a clerk or something in the palace."

He was already shaking his head. "I don't have the money or supplies for a trip like that, and I don't have a horse. I'd slow you down."

"I'll lend you a horse," she offered. "And don't worry about supplies, I've got that part covered."

"Onua, I can't, you've already done so much for me-"

"A few meals and a gold coin," she scoffed. "It was nothing."

"It wasn't," he insisted earnestly. "It was the kindest thing anyone's done for me in years, and I appreciate it more than you'll ever know. I can't take anything more from you."

"Listen, Numair, if it bothers you that much then you can pay me back for the supplies once you have a job in Corus. It's no trouble. I want to do this." She locked gazes with him, willing him to believe her.

"Why?" He asked quietly. "Why would you help me?"

"Because that's what friends do, you dolt," she said, punching him lightly in the arm. "So what do you say?"

He was quiet for a moment, and then Onua watched with satisfaction as a grin spread slowly across his face. "All right," he agreed. "Let's go to Corus."