Again an eyebrow quirked at the sureties of the modern woman — something which, as a man, he'd been trained to judge and condemn. But then again, Arven was a man who'd travelled the world, absorbing cultures that did not demand women be as restricted by manner as they were by their corsets.

And so the helpful stranger did not make Arven feel mollycoddled — she made him feel like a world away.

"Perhaps", he finally agreed, with a faint smile. "But if bears, bandits and desert sands haven't floored me, a bit of vertigo doesn't stand a chance."