She smiles a little bitterly. "Yes, I'm ... aware of the priorities of everyone here. I just don't happen to agree that my life is inherently of less value than hers. If I make it back to Riddleport safely, I'll send help. Or if I meet anyone along the way, obviously."
"No need to worry, I'll help the others with Melon. For me it is the right thing to do," Nhatin tells Corinna, "If you're still at the caravan should we succeed, I can escort you to Riddleport - my wanderings are not so structured that I could not take a few days out of them to see a young lady safely into the hands of... the pirates in Riddleport..." he ends a little lamely. A little apologetically he adds, "Qadira has its fair share of disreputable places, but I found Riddleport to be particularly disagreeable with me."
"It's not that I value Ameiko's life more than yours, Corinna," Sandru replies. "I would do the same for you, or Koya, or Gilfroy, or Vankor, or anyone else here."
Corinna shrugs a little helplessly. "It's the nearest place I know how to get to. My goal is Kalsgard, but I thought I'd be better off trying to get back somewhere I've been and find a new form of transport north than blazing a trail through the unknown."
"You're welcome to remain with the caravan until we're ready to move on," Sandru says. "I agreed to take you to Kalsgard and I'll see that through."
"Miss Corinna, your light begins to dim. If you will not continue for friendship or altruism think of the favor that she will owe you. The Kaijitsu name carries weight over all of Varisia and beyond. She has the capacity to very generous in her thanks. But I have sworn myself to you. You decide."
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"And the Valdemar name means nothing, I suppose!" Corinna bristles. "I tried to help Ameiko when I told her that coming here was a very bad idea that could put her in grave danger, and she stamped her little foot and said 'I don't care; I want it, I want it, I want it!' Well, I'm sorry, but she got what she wanted. If we had found a single clue in that village that pertained to her family, that indicated we might not be on a fools' quest, going back in might be worth the risk, but all we found was death and the promise of more. I searched every crate and barrel in those storerooms, hoping for some sort of sign we were on the right track, a name or a seal or a scrap of parchment: anything! I won't throw my life away because we hope that maybe there might be some sort of cure in there somewhere. I should think all of you would be happier to have a competent cleric or expert arcanist sent to your aid than to entrust her well-being to a group of amateurs stumbling blindly through unfamiliar territory looking for a needle in a haystack that might not be there in the first place."
Malan stiffens at Corinna's comment. "Pardon me, Miss Corinna, but I am no amateur. I am a Blade Dancer." Malan summons his black blade, Sliver the Soul Blade. "We are not mere battle mages as you humans can be. We are elite. We embody harmony between magical skill and martial training." With that he releases his weapon. "Also, Miss Corinna, I was not saying your family is less than hers, but would not your family's influence grow with the debt she would owe you for saving her life?"
"Is it just me, or are you missing the big clue?" Nhatin adds, a bit late after the exchange between Corinna and Malan, "Miss Ameiko's condition is not explained by any natural means - and the change in her condition based on the caravan's movement that Mistress Koya explained to me also suggests that whatever has caught hold of her is very specific about both the person and the location. Isn't that pretty strong evidence that there is something pertaining to her family's history here? ...but there's no need to quarrel, if you stay awhile my offer stands to escort you safely to Riddleport; a lady such as yourself is ill-suited to the rigors of danger and uncertainty."
Koya emerges from her wagon as Nhatin is speaking. She waits for him to finish, then says, "With the tragedy of Melon's death, it slipped my mind to let you know last night, but Ameiko had a moment when she began to speak again. It was yesterday evening, just after you left to find the others, Nhatin. She spoke in Taldane this time and said, 'A key you seek lies in the grip of the ten-handed one. His fear is your greatest ally.' As cryptic as all the names and the bit about the vault you already heard, but I felt you should know. That delightful azata who was here yesterday thinks that she's been possessed, but unfortunately doesn't have the magic to free her of that possession."
"All the more reason to consult with an expert rather than hope to blunder into a solution blindly. Just because an effect is localized and targeted, Mr. Sunseeker, doesn't mean that an off-switch exists in the same place, or at all. Magic is not a wind-up toy. And Mr. Vhiski," she goes on cuttingly, "I'm immensely flattered to know that if it were I who were ill, you'd still be taking the heroic measures of sitting out here in your wagon and sending other people into mortal danger. I'm truly overwhelmed by your gallantry."
"Be that as it may, does anybody have an idea who the 'ten-handed one' might be?"
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