‘Oh.’ She relaxed a little; unfolded the arms that had been tight around her body. Bobbed her head in a sort of nod.

‘Lady Flidais spoke to me about finding you a tonic. Something to help you feel better.’

No reply to this. She stood there staring, on the verge of flight. I recalled what Flidais had told me about Cara’s reluctance to speak.

‘Why not come back to my cottage now and we’ll talk about it? It’s not far. You do need to be careful in Dreamer’s Wood. It may sound odd but it’s true. Nobody goes in the pool. They should have warned you.’ But then, wasn’t she forbidden to ride beyond the prince’s walls without an escort? ‘Do you have anyone with you?’

She shook her head. ‘I should be going.’ It was a whisper.

‘Going? Where?’

She shrugged. I could not tell if that meant, I don’t know, or It’s none of your business. But I could guess. She was out alone, against the rules her father had set out to Flidais.

‘I think you might be running away. Heading for home, perhaps. On foot. Let’s say the prince’s folk don’t catch up with you. You might get there before dusk. But I doubt that; it’s a long walk. And, from what I’ve heard, a difficult one. You might find yourself out in the forest after dark, which wouldn’t be ideal.’

Cara stared at me, silent. I couldn’t help thinking of a wild creature cornered. What did that make me? A fearsome wolf, a ferocious boar, a monster?

‘They will send someone after you very soon,’ I said. ‘Probably have done already. If you come with me, back to my cottage, we can sit down together and talk or just have a brew, and when Donagan or whoever it is arrives, you can tell him Lady Flidais suggested you come to see me and you forgot you were meant to take someone with you. Better, surely, than being apprehended and escorted back in disgrace.’

‘I could get there. I know the way. I just need to reach the forest. Our forest. After that they wouldn’t find me.’

So she could talk, sometimes at least. ‘Shall we make a wager?’ I asked. ‘I’m betting that by the time we reach my cottage, we’ll be able to see someone from the prince’s establishment riding in this direction.’

‘But that means . . .’