The red-eyed lady approached - sending all the signals for amiable, non-threatening, welcoming - and Kaukab strained to detect her with anything other than his eyes. Even when she stood close enough to touch, no perfume wafted from her midnight robes; her fur held only the signature of the land around it, rough vegetation and dirt and the savory notes of the ocean. And her paws? The boy saw how she bent grass as she picked her way toward him, how she displaced the grit between her toes, and yet somehow all sound canceled around her. A completely stealthy predator. She could tear Kab’s throat out right now and it would look like a freak accident, a lad slain by a ghost that disappeared into nothingness. These thoughts did nothing to calm the snow-speckled male’s nerves. He met her lovely rubies, noted her kindly smile, and swallowed hard. My father sent me to be eaten. That bastard-

A very quiet noise of panic eeked from his vocal cords when Macaria leaned down… and softly kissed his brow, as if he were a beloved nephew.

“You… you don’t want to eat me?” A breath of wonder, mismatched eyes blinking away their terror to gaze at the vampiress in awe. “And you have a family, too?” His legs started to unbend, drawing him up to his full height: still just under the she-wolf’s chin and mostly awkward legs. “It’s nice to meet you too! I’m so glad you don’t want to eat me, I thought my father was playing a cruel joke on me. Can you imagine? Sending a son you barely know to his death?” Kab laughed lightly, giving no indication of his previous visceral panic. “I knew Kershov wouldn’t do that. I… well, my mother is a healer. Was a healer. She’s not dead, she just doesn’t heal very often these days. Her name is Kahlan. I want to get very good at herbology and physiology, so I can help my loved ones when they need it. It’s an honor to study under you, Miss Adlartok. Please teach me as much as you can.” The russet-and-earth soldier bowed low - this time in respect. He patiently listened to the instructions Macaria delivered as if she were giving him a holy task.

“Gathering plants? I can do that.” A renewed energy sparkled through Kaukab’s bloodstream at being given such a simple, straightforward task after the riddle of finding Macaria. That, and he realized with explosive joy that he would finally see the ocean: that epic body of water had had dreamed about ever since he learned it existed. He’d find plants until his teeth turned green and roots sprouted from his ears if it meant spending time on the beach. “Is there anything specific I need to look for? Or are we just going to snatch EVERYTHING we can find?”

The boy appeared to have completely recovered from his initial shock of Macaria’s vampirism. He looked at her with an enormous smile as open as a window, tail wagging like a much younger child. If there was anything Kab possessed in surplus, it was blinding enthusiasm. Then, hardly waiting for her to finish whatever sentence she may begin, the starry prince sprang toward the salty scent of the sea, his strides growing longer as his fear-frozen muscles warmed themselves back up. It amazed him - thrilled him - how unique Uyaraut felt to his five senses. Under his paws the dirt pressed hard-packed and gritty compared to Wudubearo’s moss-softened mire; thin grasses whipped at his sides, their perfume briny and invigorating when he snapped their stalks; the air held a wonderful freshness as if the ocean had scrubbed out all pollution, its clean breeze flowing in over the cliffs to buffet the prairie; even his lolling tongue picked up traces that told him Uyaraut tasted differently than his birthplace - not of greenery and mud but of sand and foam. It panged him to think that he would need to completely erase all traces of the Diamond by the Sea when he left it for Graes Waegholm… as much as Kaukab decided he loved this territory, he could not carry a single shred of evidence when he exchanged it for the tundra pack. He must excell in his lessons with Macaria… and go. Taking only knowledge. Leaving only pawprints, which would fade like rock into the surf.

It did not take long to reach the first hedge of cliffs that broke out over the sea. Kaukab raced to their sharp edges and then stopped - scattering pebbles and dust in his wake - to gape stupidly at the sight that met his eyes. “It’s…” Stunning. Beautiful. Magnificent. Incredible. An entire horizon that undulated endlessly, liquid blackness traced with the shimmering white of the moon and stars. The rhythmic hush and splash of waves wrapped like a blanket around his hammering heart. Portals of onyx and topaz blurred with joyous tears. He glanced backward at Macaria, hardly able to form words past the lump in his throat. “You see this every day?”