Gaborn reached into the pouch at his waist, pulled out a coin, tossed it to the woman. Her hand darted from the doorpost to catch the coin. She closed the door while she bit the coin, then cracked the door again to shout, more cordially, “There’s grain in the pig shed. Good oats. Take as much as you want. And the plums.”

“A blessing on you and your tree,” Binnesman called out, “three years’ good harvest.”

“Thank you,” Gaborn shouted, bowing low. He and Binnesman led the horses round back while Iome fed her father plums from the tree.

Gaborn opened the shed, found a burlap bag of oats, and began to dump them in a worn wooden trough to feed the horses. As he did, he was painfully aware that the wizard sat quietly on his horse, watching Gaborn.

“You have questions for me,” Binnesman said.

Gaborn dared not ask the most pressing questions first. So he said easily, “Your robes have gone red.”

“As I told you they would,” Binnesman answered. “In the spring of his youth, an Earth Warden must grow in his power, tend it and nurture it. In the green summer of his life, he matures and ripens. But I am in the autumn of my life, and now must bring forth my harvest.”

Gaborn asked, “And what happens in the winter?”

Binnesman smiled up at him discreetly. “We will not speak of that now.”

Gaborn picked a question that had troubled him more. “Why could Raj Ahten not see me? He thought there was a spell upon me.”

Binnesman chuckled. “In my garden, when Earth drew a rune on your forehead, it was a symbol of power that I, in my weakness, dared not try. You are invisible now, Gaborn—at least, you’re invisible to your enemies. Those who serve Fire cannot see you, but see instead your love for the land. The closer they come to you, the more powerfully the spell affects them. I am amazed that Raj Ahten even knew that you were there in the glade. Fire could have given him such power. I did not realize that then, but I realize it now.”

Gaborn thought about this.

“You cannot take great security in this gift of invisibility,” Binnesman said. “Many evil men would do you harm, men who do not serve Fire. And flameweavers of great power can pierce your disguise if they get close.”

Gaborn remembered the flameweaver in Castle Sylvarresta, the way she’d looked at him in recognition, as if he were a sworn enemy.

“I see . . .” he whispered. “I understand why Raj Ahten could not see me. But why could I not see him?”

“What?” Binnesman said, his brows arching in surprise.