Clariel looked up and down the stairs but couldn’t see anything. Then she noticed a faint ripple in the faded plaster of the wall opposite, a ripple that spread up from the floor. As she watched, tiny Charter marks blossomed and began to outline … something … that was about eight feet long and four feet high and took up most of the wall. Slowly the outline began to become more distinct, until Clariel saw it was some sort of catlike beast, but far larger, longer and thinner and it sported a feathery tail.

The outline flashed bright as sunshine on a mirror and an actual beast, albeit one made of Charter marks, stepped slinkily out of the wall. It shook itself as if to become fully awake and opened its impressively betoothed jaw, hopefully in a yawn and not in anticipation of a meal. It stood taller than Clariel sitting, and as the beast shook itself it became more and more solid-looking, its colour darkening to something like a sweet wine, and faint shadows grew thick upon its back and flanks like spots.

Clariel sat extremely still and resisted the twitch of her right hand towards the knife in her sleeve. She doubted any normal blade would be much use against a sending like this one anyway.

The Guardian finished its yawn and extended its flat, rather triangular head towards Clariel, sniffing up her left leg, across her body and then down her left arm. When it reached the sleeve it stopped and a great paw came up, claws extended, and it delicately pulled back the material to reveal the small, sheathed knife.

‘I said no weapons,’ chided Gullaine, but she sounded calm enough. Clariel tried not to breathe as the sending opened its mouth to show those great teeth again, and bent forward to bite … the hilt of her knife, pulling it out of the scabbard. Clariel expected it to drop the weapon on the floor for Gullaine to pick it up, but instead the cat-beast tipped its head back and swallowed the knife whole, apparently with great satisfaction and no ill-effect.

‘What … Will I get that back?’ whispered Clariel. It was a very fine knife, and it was hard to get one of such quality so small.

‘I doubt it,’ said Gullaine. ‘I’m not actually sure where things go when they eat them. I trust you have no more hidden weapons?’