I ignored his jibe and began my account. “When I wrote, I told you what I’d learned about the threat from the Kobalos, but it seems that they might launch their attack on the County a lot sooner than I expected. One of the Kobalos, a haizda mage, was here. It had built a lair in a tree less than an hour’s journey from Chipenden. It killed three girls before I realized what I was dealing with. The beast’s dead now, but there could well be others.”

I went into more detail, describing exactly what had happened and Jenny’s part in it all. At the first mention of her name, Judd raised his eyebrows. But I finished my story, concluding with Grimalkin’s investigation of the lair of the dead mage. I told him about her experiments and the varteki we’d encountered. After that, Judd was silent for a long time.

“Without that sword, it would have been the end of you,” he said at last. “Perhaps you could ask the witch assassin to make one for me too. If I ever come up against one of those Kobalos mages, my staff wouldn’t be much use.”

“I can’t tell how effective a staff might be. I’d left mine with the girl, so I never got a chance to use it. But you’re correct: such a mage uses powerful dark magic. Though it wouldn’t be easy for Grimalkin to craft another sword like mine. It’s not just infused with her magic—she forged it from a piece of ore that fell from the sky.”

“From a meteorite?”

“Yes, and a very rare one, too. We need to find other ways to deal with such a mage. Hopefully Grimalkin will come up with something.”

“I’m surprised you took that girl on as an apprentice,” Judd said suddenly, changing the subject. “She hung around here for days awhile back, begging that I do the same. Eventually I had to set the dogs on her. It was the only way to be rid of her. You should have seen her run! One of the dogs tore off a piece of her skirt!”

No wonder she had been reluctant to come here. I was learning that Jenny kept things to herself and told you little unless you asked outright. It was cruel of Judd to have set the wolfhounds on her—Jenny hadn’t deserved that. I remember how scared I’d been of such big, fierce hunting dogs when I’d first met them. But what was done was done, and I saw no point in antagonizing Judd by bringing him to task for it.

I shrugged. “I suppose I felt guilty about underestimating that mage. Because of that, I almost got her killed.”

“Well, you’d be better off without her. For one thing, you’ve still a lot to learn yourself without the added responsibility of an apprentice. Even if she really is the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, there’s no precedent for a woman becoming a spook.”

“There has to be a first time for everything,” I said, starting to feel angry again. “And I stand by my decision. She had the guts to face up to the ghasts on Hangman’s Hill. I’m sure she’ll make a go of things.”