‘Why, I’ve known him thirty years. Must be at least that. He was one of my father’s friends to begin with. Thirty years, and I confess I don’t know exactly what it is he does. His background is science. Medical science. The old Materia Medica, but I think he’s in investment now. Bulk cargo shipping, mining… that sort of thing. I refer to him as my “very wealthy neighbour”. He lives in the old fortress.’

‘You mean… Helter?’ asked Drusher.

The man looked at him as if he’d made a joke.

‘No, no,’ he said, gesturing vaguely. ‘Keshtre. Further down towards the pass. Much older than Helter.’

‘As I said,’ remarked Drusher with a smile, ‘I don’t know the history.’

‘Oh, the Karanines are full of hill forts. Ancient places. Many are lost now, of course. Some of them are very grand. Palaces. From the Pre-Udarin Age. Keshtre’s one of those.’

Drusher nodded.

‘Out here alone,’ he said, ‘are you not concerned about coming to harm?’

‘From what?’ the man asked.

‘Ursid.’

‘Oh, I see them from time to time. They don’t bother you unless you’re stupid. I’m sure you know that, being a student of nature. You don’t seem to be afraid to be out here on your own.’

‘As you say,’ said Drusher. ‘I know what to do if I run across an ursid. I just wondered. There have been some deaths recently. Ursid kills.’

‘Really?’ asked the man. ‘I hadn’t heard that.’

‘Yes, of late.’

‘Well, thanks for the advice. I’ll keep an eye out. You know, though, one summer… it must be four or five years ago now, I was out sketching. Now, you were kind enough to compliment my work, but I’m very slow. Like today, I can sit for hours before I produce anything halfway decent. So I’d been sitting for three hours, lost in it, and I looked up and – Throne take me – there was a king grey sitting right there. As close to me as you are now. Just minding his business. Huge, he was. So I just kept sketching. You know, no sudden movements. And he sat there for a while longer, then grunted and wandered off into the trees. Funniest thing.’

‘You… you’ve been here awhile today, then?’ Drusher asked.

The man squinted up at the sun.

‘Oh, two hours at least before you came along.’

Drusher hesitated. He was about to speak when he heard someone calling his name in the forests above them.

‘Someone’s looking for me,’ he said.

The man put his sketchbook down and got up. He offered Drusher his hand.

‘Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, magos,’ he said. He listened for a second to the voice calling out from the trees. ‘Magos… Drusher, I believe?’

‘Valentin,’ said Drusher, shaking the man’s hand.