Where will I sleep
How will I ride
What will I hunt
Where can I go
without my mount
all eager and quick
How will I know
in thicket ahead
is danger or treasure
When Body my good
bright dog is dead
How will it be
to lie in the sky
without roof or door
and wind for an eye
with cloud for a shift
how will I hide?
–May Swenson
PROLOGUE
Inserted
The Healer's name was Fords Deep Waters.
Because he was a soul, by nature he was all things good: compassionate, patient, honest,
virtuous, and full of love. Anxiety was an unusual emotion for Fords Deep Waters.
Irritation was even rarer. However, because Fords Deep Waters lived inside a human body,
irritation was sometimes inescapable.
As the whispers of the Healing students buzzed in the far corner of the operating room, his lips
pressed together into a tight line. The expression felt out of place on a mouth more often given
to smiling.
Darren, his regular assistant, saw the grimace and patted his shoulder.
“They're just curious, Fords,” he said quietly.
“An insertion is hardly an interesting or challenging procedure. Any soul on the street could
perform it in an emergency. There's nothing for them to learn by observing today.” Fords was
surprised to hear the sharp edge marring his normally soothing voice.
“They've never seen a grown human before,” Darren said.
Fords raised one eyebrow. “Are they blind to each other's faces? Do they not have mirrors?”
“You know what I mean–a wild human. Still soulless. One of the insurgents.”
Fords looked at the girl's unconscious body, laid out facedown on the operating table. Pity
swelled in his heart as he remembered the condition her poor, broken body had been in when the
Seekers had brought her to the Healing facility. Such pain she'd endured.…
Of course she was perfect now–completely healed. Fords had seen to that.
“She looks the same as any of us,” Fords murmured to Darren. “We all have human faces. And
when she wakes up, she will be one of us, too.”
“It's just exciting for them, that's all.”
“The soul we implant today deserves more respect than to have her host body gawked at this
way. She'll already have far too much to deal with as she acclimates. It's not fair to put her
through this.” Bythis, he did not mean the gawking. Fords heard the sharp edge return to his
voice.
Darren patted him again. “It will be fine. The Seeker needs information and –”
At the wordSeeker, Fords gave Darren a look that could only be described as a glare. Darren
blinked in shock.
