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I let go the twilight.

A wave of weakness spilled over me. In the center of the six-pointed star, Caim-the-man was still speaking. The members of the Circle all had peculiar looks on their faces. Wavering on my feet, I waited until Caim paused, then tugged Raphael's arm. Raphael looked at me, his nostrils twitching.

"Tell the Circle to dismiss him," I said. "I won't make it past crickets."

He nodded and did so.

Claire Fourcay spoke the words in a sour tone. Caim-the-man vanished and the doorway closed. I sank to my knees with a sense of blessed relief.

For better or worse, it was over.

It took me a few days to recover. I wasn't quite as drained as I had been after Marbas' summoning—I'd conversed with him the longest— but I had the nagging feeling that each time, there was less of me left to recuperate. Raphael didn't dance attendance on me the way he had last time. After assuring himself that I would recover, he returned to the City for two days, coming back to fetch me on the third.

None of the Circle called on me in his absence.

"They're angry, aren't they?" I said when Raphael returned.

He took a deep breath. "They are. Not at you. Elua! It's not your fault. But yes, they're angry. They've been tricked and tricked, again and again. After years of study and effort, all we have to show for it…" He wrinkled his nose and rubbed it, an odd look in his eyes. "Thank the gods it's almost winter."

I was confused. "Why?"

Raphael shuddered. "All those scent-trails. Forage, forage, forage. Back to the colony, dig, dig, dig."

I touched his hand. "I'm sorry."

He looked at me sidelong. "Caim spared you, didn't he?" Aye.

"I wonder why," he mused.

I shrugged. "They, um, seem to like me."

Raphael uttered a sharp laugh. "They're not human, Moirin. They don't have likes and dislikes as we understand them."

"Why not?" I plucked at the bedsheets. "They're what Elua's Companions once were, aren't they? You'd never say they were incapable of loving. Why shouldn't their brethren be capable of at least liking?"

He frowned and gazed into the distance. "Mayhap they were alike long, long ago. But those of the One God's servants who chose to follow Blessed Elua did so out of love, and in the process, they became far, far greater than they had been. Those who rebelled and failed did so out of envy and anger, and they are less than they were." He rubbed his nose absently. "At least we know they can be compelled."

"Ah, no!" I said in alarm.

"I'm not breaking my promise." Raphael laid his hand over mine. "It's in my thoughts that mayhap this wondrous gift of healing we're able to share was all that destiny ever intended. But the Circle has worked so very hard." His grey eyes were dark and grave. "They're returning to their studies for a time. If they can find a way to outwit one of the spirits, may I tell them you'll at least listen to what they propose?"

"I'll listen," I said. "But they'll be wasting their breath."

"Listening is enough," he assured me.

We returned to the City of Elua, where I discovered that the best gift I could have hoped for awaited me: My father was back. I laughed aloud with delight when I learned that he'd called on the townhouse in our absence, and went straightaway to the Temple of Naamah to see him. I found him kneeling in contemplation before the effigy modeled on my great-great-grandmother, the first royal companion. His face was glad and serene, his scarlet robes were pooled around him, his brown hair a shining fall down his back. I stood in the doorway a moment, just watching him. He had something of Master Lo Feng's gift for stillness. Then he caught sight of me out of the corner of his eye.

"Moirin." He smiled and rose, opening his arms. "Come here."

I hugged him hard. "I'm so glad you're back."

"As am I." My father returned my embrace, then studied me with a faint frown. "Have you been ill?"

I shook my head. "No. Why?"

"You look…" He hesitated, touching my cheek with gentle fingers.