The house did look comfortable, Clariel thought as she went in. Charter marks for light sparkled in the ceilings, brightening as the day grew dim outside. The sending took her through a hall and up a central stair, and then to a large bedroom that had windows that looked out over the curtain wall to the river. The walls were of painted plaster, in light blue with silver details. There was a fireplace, with no fire set, but it would not be needed for some weeks yet. The large bed had four posts, each beautifully carved with the key motif of the Abhorsens, with a fat feather mattress, as evidenced by a half-escaped goose feather at the foot. There was a silver washstand in the corner, with a large porcelain basin under two bronze tubes with screw-wheels, which Clariel recognised as one of the relatively new-fangled arrangements for supplying hot water. She was surprised to see this because the Abhorsen’s House was otherwise clearly very old.

The sending indicated the basin. Clariel shook her head. She’d just had a bath and had not become very dirty or sweaty on the short ride over. The sending gestured again.

‘No, thank you,’ said Clariel. ‘I’m going to have a look around.’

She turned about and went out the door. The sending scurried after her, carefully shutting the door.

The sending stayed at her heels for the next two hours. Clariel found the main hall first, with its floor-to-ceiling stained glass windows showing shifting scenes of the Wall being built. She watched this for some time, trying to catch the movement in the scenes, but it never happened in the actual pane she was focused on. Needless to say, on close inspection the windows weren’t really glass, stained or otherwise, but very complex Charter Magic spells. It was also hard to remember exactly what she’d seen, save the Wall itself.

The hall had a table almost as long as the room, groaning under the weight of silver and gold salt cellars, dishes, jugs, plates, platters, decanters and other objects. Some of it looked like Dropstone work as far as Clariel could tell, which reminded her of Jaciel and made tears come to her eyes, as well as wonder why her mother had never spoken of the Abhorsen’s House. If she had known this was all here she would have set up a forge out on the lawn and never left. But even growing up at Hillfair, she must not have come to the older house. It was as Bel had said. The Abhorsens had abandoned their responsibilities, and with them, this house.