I thought Raffi would burst, he ate so much. Mind you, so did I. Now he’s asleep and so is Galen. After the meal everyone was too tired to talk. Tomorrow, the woman said. The Watchpatrol may have moved on then. She’s out, but the old woman is somewhere about.

Something’s wrong. He has to ask Raffi for information. The villager’s name. Why didn’t he know it? Why not answer the woman’s mind-call?

Maybe he’s a fraud. Maybe the powers of the Order are nothing – and yet she would know that.

Maybe he suspects me.

He’s a harsh, strange man, and sees far. And yet he went deliberately into danger. I don’t understand what’s happening here. But I’ll find out.

All right. The real reason I’m writing is that I can’t sleep. Why did she have to say that, about those children? Did I come from a village like this? Was my mother distracted with grief? I always thought, before, that Watch-children were orphans… I never thought…

This is stupid. I’m going to sleep.

Note: Information about Lerin would be useful to the Watch. I don’t think I’ll send it.

14

What does the keeper know?

The secrets of the world.

To whom does the keeper speak?

God and the Makers.

What does the keeper fear?

Nothing but despair.

Litany of the Makers

‘TASCERON!’

Lerin stared at them in amazement. ‘Galen, you can’t go there! It’s madness!’

He brooded across the firelit room. Outside, the cold rain fell heavily, splatting the pocked track into mud. Washed, full of food, and after the best night’s sleep he’d had for months, Raffi watched the keeper anxiously. Galen was gaunter these days, his hair long and ragged, his hawk-nose jutting, eyes dark with obsession. Now he turned the cup of ale on the table, tracing the pattern on the leather.

‘Maybe it is. But there are reasons for it. The first is the girl’s father.’

Carys blinked. For a moment she had forgotten her own story.

Lerin looked at her and shook her head. ‘I’m sorry, but that’s… well, you have to face facts. He may well be dead already.’

‘I don’t care,’ Carys said. ‘I’m going to find out!’ She glanced at Galen. ‘Tell her your other reasons.’

He drank, and set the cup down. Then he said, ‘I’m looking for a Sekoi. Brindled fur, with a zigzag under the eye. A man called Alberic wants him.’

‘Why?’

‘Alberic has a relic of ours. A crystal box that emits light. That can kill.’

Carys tried not to stare. She leaned back in the soft comfort of the chair, hoping he’d say more about it, but Lerin didn’t seem very surprised. ‘And he says he’ll give it back in return for the Sekoi?’

Galen shrugged. ‘So he says. I doubt it.’