And she stepped forward then, that old woman, that mother with her last ever child, this stranger, and gently laid her baby into Rutt’s waiting arms. A gift beyond measure, and when she settled an arm about his shoulders, drawing him forward, so that he could walk with them – her and her husband – and they set out, slowly as it was all she could manage, in the wake of the nearest wagon, and all the Khundryl began to move… Badalle stood unmoving. Saddic, I will tell you to remember this. These are the Khundryl, the givers of gifts. Remember them, won’t you? And Rutt walked like a king.
