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it’s not like you meant for it to happen. All I’m saying is that everyone contributes here. As you’ve dipped into the community’s resources, you’ll need to stay long enough to pay the debt. Since it will take awhile for your leg to heal anyway, surely that won’t be a problem.”
    My body sagged, and I leaned back against the pillow. Great. First the snakebite, and now this. “How long are we talking? Days? Weeks?”
    She hesitated. “Antivenom is very expensive. If your contribution is highly skilled, you could possibly pay it off by the time your leg heals. It’s hard to say when that will be. The healing stimulants I’ve injected are working well so far, but, like I said, there was probably tissue damage. We won’t know the extent of it for a few days.”
    “So it could be weeks, at least.”
    “It’s hard to say at this point.” She shoved the paper deep into her pocket and stood. “Why the concern? You were wandering in the desert, you’ll recall. Surely you’re grateful to have a home.”
    I took a beat too long to answer. “I am. Thank you.”
    “You’re most welcome. Go ahead and rest. I’ll keep Coltrane from bothering you as long as I can.” She flashed a practiced smile and left. The curtain divider fell closed behind her.
    I tried to sleep, but the moment I relaxed and allowed my mind to slip into unconsciousness, the voices awaited me. Their accusations grabbed at me like clawed fingers and sharp knives. After the third time, I forced my eyes open and stared at the smooth dirt ceiling, my body rigid.
    These people absolutely could not find out who I was or what I had done. If they were kind, they’d throw me and my injured leg to the buzzards. If not, they’d turn me over to NORA. My hand instinctively dug into my pockets to grab my stone, but it wasn’t there. Alarmed, I felt all around the bed and in the blankets, thinking maybe it had fallen out. Nothing. The last reminder I had of home, and now it was gone.
    At one point Lillibeth slipped in again and grabbed the bag that seemed to be the source of the room’s light. She paused in the doorway for a long time. I feigned sleep, trying to keep my breathing deep and regular.
    Finally, she left. The room plunged into darkness, and then I was left alone in the blackness with only my thoughts for company.

 
     
     
     

     
    The next morning my first visitor walked up to the jail entrance. I sat forward, listening intently as the voices floated in from outside.
    “You’re not supposed to be here,” the guard said.
    “Of course I am,” a feminine voice said. It sounded vaguely familiar. “Mills sent me.”
    “I’ve received no such orders.”
    “Now, come on. I appreciate the concern for my safety, but the prisoner is behind bars. Or can he transfer evil with a single look?”
    “Young lady, if Mills sent you, you’d have written authorization. Come back when you have it.”
    There was a pause. I thought for a moment that the girl had left, but she spoke again, softer. “What is that you’re drinking there? Because it sure doesn’t look like water, Alan.”
    Silence.
    “I thought you’d given that stuff up. I think I recall your wife saying so when I ran into her at the grain mill the other day.”
    There was grumbling I couldn’t understand, and then the guard said, “Make it quick.”
    “You’re a dear.”
    The door opened, and in walked the last person I’d ever expected to see. I sat up straighter as she approached. “Edyn?”
    “Vance.” She stopped in front of my cell, one hand on her hip, head tilted to the side. “You haven’t changed much, except for that awful beard. Still getting into trouble, I see.”
    “No other way to live.” I tried to look unaffected. The last time I’d seen this girl, she had been eating dinner at my family’s table the night of the attack on my clan two years ago. Her father, Rutner, had been my father’s assistant and friend. She’d been a little awkward back then,