„Peace“, Veldrys repeated and sighed. „Aren’t we all looking for peace?“ He had found peace in Denval for a moment in the arms of the Kelvic Lucette. When he had been with her he’d forgotten everything that troubled him, but it had been over again much too soon. Viratas had appeared before him. The moment he had marked him had been one of the happiest in his life, but the prophecy that followed weighed heavy on his heart. Denval’s future, whatever it looked like, would be anything but peaceful, and he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to prevent the worst.
„There’s something special about this city, isn’t there?“ he agreed. „I felt it the moment I left the ship that brought me here.“ He helped Cian clean up. The human wouldn’t be able to do a lot with only one hand. „You are no odder than I am“, he remarked. „I think I stick out more than you do. I’ve just never had a healer as a patient. Anyway, although I always appreciate a few extra coins, I don’t absolutely need them. If you think you can need me here, I’ll gladly help out.“
As Cian admitted that the clinic was dead broke, the Symenestra furrowed his brow. That seemed strange to him. Cian had always seemed like a fairly busy man to him. Did the citizens of Denval not pay him anything for his treatment? When he had been a healer in Kalinor, Veldrys had always asked for a few golden mizas, and those that had been unable to give him money, had usually given him food or maybe a bit of silk.
Furthermore Cian seemed to find it strange that he felt that he had to make up for his lack of a mark from Rak’keli. Of course he had a mark from Viratas, and there were some things that could be healed with it, but in the end Rak’keli was the goddess of healing, not Viratas. Could somebody that had been marked by Viratas really be as good as somebody that had been marked by her? Could a man like him ever truly excel at what he did?
„What about you?“ he wanted to know. „Do you ever rely on your mark too much?“