‘But she’s right there in front of them.’

‘That doesn’t seem to matter.’ Her face slowly took on an expression of wonder. ‘I’d heard about this,’ she murmured. ‘I thought it was just an old folk tale, but perhaps I was wrong.’ She turned to Sparhawk. ‘Has she looked back at the ship at all since she rode down onto that wharf?’

‘She sort of motioned to me to follow her,’ he said.

‘You’re sure?’

‘That’s the way it looked to me.’

She drew in a deep breath. ‘Well,’ she said, ‘there’s one way to find out, I suppose.’ Before Sparhawk could stop her, she rose and walked out from behind the deckhouse.

‘Sephrenia!’ he called after her, but she continued on across the deck as if she had not heard him. She reached the rail and stood there.

‘She’s right out in plain sight,’ Kurik said in a strangled tone.

‘I can see that.’

‘The soldiers are certain to have a description of her. Has she gone out of her mind?’

‘I doubt it. Look.’ Sparhawk pointed towards the soldiers on the wharf. Although Sephrenia was standing in plain view, they did not even appear to look at her.

Flute, however, saw her and made another of those imperious little gestures.

Sephrenia sighed and looked at Sparhawk. ‘Wait here,’ she said.

‘Wait where?’

‘Here on board ship.’ She turned, walked to the gangway and went on down to the wharf.

‘That rips it,’ Sparhawk said bleakly, rising to his feet and drawing his sword. Quickly he counted the soldiers on the wharf. ‘There aren’t that many of them,’ he said to Kurik. ‘If we can take them by surprise, there might be a chance.’

‘Not a very good one, Sparhawk. Let’s wait a moment and see what happens.’

Sephrenia walked up the wharf and stopped directly in front of the soldiers.

They ignored her.

She spoke to them. They paid no attention.

Then she turned back towards the ship. ‘It’s all right, Sparhawk,’ she called. ‘They can’t see us – or hear us. Bring the other horses and our things.’

‘Magic?’ Kurik asked in a stunned voice.

‘Not any kind that I ever heard about,’ Sparhawk replied.

‘I guess we’d better do what she says, then,’ Kurik advised, ‘and sort of immediately I’d hate to be right in the middle of those soldiers when the spell wears off.’