‘You ken that already? Good. I have sent a rider down with your missive and message, and Tomash, Wila an’ Sarn are clamourin’ to talk to ye as soon as ye will it. I just saw Tomash an’ Wila headed for the kitchens. Do ye want me to send them up?’

‘Tell them to get their food and bring it up to my chamber. Ask them to bring me a bite to eat, too, would you?’

‘Elspeth, ye mun tell Rushton about Dragon as soon as possible,’ Ceirwan said.

‘It turns out that Rushton knows about her already. I forgot I had told Merret and she told him. Then he told Gwynedd and Dardelan and they have had people out looking for her.’

‘When did ye speak to him?’ he asked diffidently.

‘Just now,’ I said calmly, shielding my emotions. ‘He is hoping that Dameon will find Dragon in the west and bring her back with him.’

‘Maybe he will, for she might have gone to Oldhaven, if it was the only place she could remember,’ Ceirwan sent.

Wila and Tomash arrived carrying papers and maps but without food, explaining that they had not wanted to waste time waiting in the kitchens, but had asked Javo to send something up for us.

‘We must wait for Sarn, though,’ Wila explained earnestly, ‘because although I did most of the finding and copying out of the dream-book entries that touched upon the Red Land, and Tomash was down in the lowlands culling every bit of information he could from shipfolk, it is Sarn who has been putting our research together. She has a genius for it, truly.’

They were setting out their maps and papers still when there was a light knock at the door. A young farseeker entered, struggling under the weight of a tray laden with food. Tomash hastened to help him spread it out on a table by the fire, as I praised the lad. He listened to me in terror and all but bolted after blurting out his thanks. Wila gave me a look of amusement as I urged them to help themselves, then I told them bluntly Dragon’s identity.

‘Matthew knew it!’ Wila cried, half starting up from her seat. ‘In the dreams he kept referring to Dragon and the Red Land in a way I could never understand until now.’

‘Maybe he dreamed of you discovering it in Dragon’s mind,’ Tomash said, pushing his dark curls absently back from his face.

‘I think it is simpler than that. There are carvings of the queen where Matthew now dwells, and they strongly resemble Dragon. As far as I can tell, it was seeing them that let Matthew guess the truth,’ I said.