Swiftcurrent Creek and now what?

"I told her I didn't want to marry the girl she had chosen for me and I simply woke up the next day without it. No trace of it or pain, really."

Bazi stared. No pain? What sort of witchery had allowed that kindness? Zimri had disappeared mere days after his own ordeal, so Bazi did not know how long it had taken for the wound to heal (if it ever did) - but the pain he suffered was extreme and obvious. To emphasize her disappointment, Shar-Kali had forbidden him access to a medic.

Haunter dropped to the ground, and Bazi moved around to face him, lowering her head rather than taking a seat. "I don't believe you," she said, narrowing her eyes but fighting a smile. "About the pain. How can you take an ear off without pain? And what kind of girl would make your mother do that to you?" Whether or not Haunter had really changed his ways after being so severely reprimanded wasn't something she thought to question.