He went on talking and she pulled herself together to listen. “You're with the other strangers, aren't you? How did you get in? The way they came is now guarded.”

“Across the dam.”

“Brave girl. It still fills me with terror every time I cross it.” “I know,” she said, without thinking. Then she couldn't help laughing at his expression. “I'll explain later. But why didn't you cross the river last night or the night before? It was the full moon and we were waiting.”

“We?”

“Swift and Healhand and Rowan and the others.”

“Rowan?”

“Yes.”

He bit his lip. “So close.” He seemed to be speaking to himself. Then he shrugged his shoulders and managed a smile. “I did not dare go out. There's been - well, the soldiers call it an invasion, but there were only eighteen of them. From another Ark, they kept saying. But, of course, you know all that if you're one of them Anyway, the city has been in an uproar ever since. The soldiers are on edge, expecting more strangers to arrive.''

“And what about the Lords?”

“The Lords! They've spent the days quarrelling over whether they should listen to the strangers or not.”

“And the overlord?” Your father, Ruth remembered.

“Ah.” He looked at her without saying anything, as if wondering if he could confide in her. But in the end he said only... The Overlord keeps his Own council.''

..So where are my friends? In prison, I suppose.” Ruth managed to keep her voice steady.

.. Locked up in a storage room. Not close to here, over in North D. But there are soldiers everywhere. That was why I was careful when we met. What a risk you took!”

“We had to find out what was going on. You see, the Initiator, she's our leader, and I went down to the village to meet Rowan and the others. We intended to meet you and decide on the best plan. But the others got impatient waiting- at least we guess that is what happened. When we got back to the Ark they were gone and we couldn't reach them. We had to talk to you to find out what was happening. We had hoped they'd be treated as honoured guests. After all, our ancestors were at the same University and we both started out with the same idea at the Time of Confusion ... “