“Yes, I know he did, but I don’t see why. The forest’s perfectly safe.”

This was true. It was another thing Ambrosius had done; men were no longer afraid to ride abroad in Less Britain, within striking distance of the town. The country was constantly patrolled by his companies, alert and spoiling for something to do. Indeed, the main danger was (as I had once heard him admit) that his troops would over-train and grow stale, and look rather too hard for trouble. Meanwhile, the outlaws and disaffected men stayed away, and ordinary folk went about their business in peace. Even women could travel without much of an escort.

“Besides,” I added, “does it matter what he said? He’s not my master. He’s only in charge of teaching me, nothing else. We can’t possibly lose our way if we keep to the tracks, and if we don’t get a canter now, it’ll be too dark to press the horses when we get back to the fields. You’re always complaining that I don’t ride well enough. How can I, when we’re always trotting along the road? Please, Cadal.”

“Look, I’m not your master either. All right, then, but not far. And watch your pony; it’ll be darker under the trees. Best let me go first.”

I put a hand on his rein. “No. I’d like to ride ahead, and would you hold back a little, please? The thing is, I—I have so little solitude, and it’s been something I’m used to. This was one of the reasons I had to come out this way.” I added carefully: “It’s not that I haven’t been glad of your company, but one sometimes wants time to—well, to think things out. If you’ll just give me fifty paces?”

He reined back immediately. Then he cleared his throat. “I told you I’m not your master. Go ahead. But go careful.”

I turned Aster into the ride, and kicked him to a canter. He had not been out of his stable for three days, and in spite of the distance behind us he was eager. He laid his ears back, and picked up speed down the grass verge of the ride. Luckily the mist had almost gone, but here and there it smoked across the track saddle high, and the horses plunged through it, fording it like water.