After several long days on the road, during which Jerek speaks very little and only to Grig and N’serric when he does, the mismatched band arrives at a Temple of Yli the Joyful One near the city of Mare’s Crossing. As that was his intended destination, Rathi decides he’ll go off on his own as soon as they arrive and put this whole business with Jerek’s “company” behind him but is then bewildered when, instead of continuing on to the city, Jerek enters the temple. Rathi cannot comprehend the dour man entering the holy place of one of the kindest of the gods, even if he does wear the god’s medallion. (Yli represents happiness and enjoyment of life, as well as spreading joy to others. It is not hedonistic pleasure just for the sake of pleasure, but looks for the appeasement of misery and suffering in the world.)
Rathi is not permitted to follow Jerek but he is not barred from wandering the temple grounds. The priests and clerics of the temple are kind and friendly, a welcome change from mute Jerek and snide N’serric. As he wanders, Rathi passes under an open window and is startled to hear Jerek’s voice. (Having heard it so little, he almost doesn’t recognize the man’s kind-sounding tone.) Glancing through the window for just a moment, he spots Jerek’s broad back and a rail-thin man, missing one eye and both legs below the knee, laid out in a sickbed.
Ducking back out of sight and eavesdropping, Rathi learns the sick man's name is Vindur. Vindur’s manner of speech is distant and vaguely confused. He appears to have little sense of the passage of time and his grip on reality falters at moments. He frequently asks of Jerek, “Have you found them yet?”, and mentions names that mean nothing to Rathi. Nevertheless, Rathi is struck by the kindness and patience he hears in Jerek’s voice, finding it shockingly out of character for the warknight.
Grig eventually appears, sitting on the window ledge, but does not give Rathi away when they spot each other.