"No!" Sean broke in sharply. In a quieter voice the boy went on, "You already have a protector in me. I lack the height and thick-muscled arms and the bloody long-axe of this one, but I can advise you about the country and its often coarse and ill-tempered people and, with the help of your magic and my skills, keep you safe. You have no need of another. This one is of a kind with the people against whom you promised me protection. I have the feeling that he, too, is a robber, but one who changed his mind because he thought there would be more profit in defending than in attacking us. But he could change his mind again, and kill us at a time of his own choosing. Give him the promised food and send him hence!"

Declan remained silent. It would do him no good to make a denial when the others would disbelieve every word he would say, especially when the accusation was partly true.

"Peace, child," said Ma'el quietly. "Your recent past has made you untrusting of others, and with good reason. But allow me to judge the worth of this stranger as, you will remember, I judged you when first we met. As well as a healer and trusted advisor like yourself, I have need of a man of stature and formidable aspect who has proficiency in the warlike arts and who will discourage, hopefully before violence occurs, the cruder-natured people we may chance to meet. There have been many such as Declan who served me in my past and there may be more in my future. Do you follow my reasoning, young Sean?"

The boy glared at Declan, but remained mute.

"As my protector," Ma'el went on, turning back to Declan, "there would be times when you would be called on to face many strange and unusual dangers, among people in even stranger places far across the seas. Have you ever traveled beyond this land and, if you have not, would you prefer not to do so?"