After a time, she quietened somewhat, but stared at him in appalled disbelief, shaking her head as though trying to dispel his words.
‘I found you,’ he continued at last, ‘almost a week after the promise I made to your mother. You were so small . . .’
For a time he couldn’t speak, overcome with grief.
‘. . . you were so small . . . when I found you, you hadn’t eaten for days . . . you were so hungry . . . and crying for your mother. But there was so little that I could do! I wanted so badly to console you . . . to hold you . . . to take you home with me . . .
‘It was I who left the little doll for you to find. I asked Theuli to make it, telling her it was for the child of a friend. It was I that left food for you, and small things for you to find. The Thane himself was that young officer whom I told of the deed. It was he that enlisted Finli’s help, asking him to go out of his way to check on your welfare whenever possible. But nothing any of us could do was ever enough.’
At last, when he was finished, Malina stopped crying. She drew herself to her feet, squared her small shoulders, and faced him, her tearstained features clear, resolved. When at last she spoke, her voice was steady.