To distract myself from the bleak turn of my thoughts, I got out the gourd bottle of cider and the rest of the food I had brought with me. I ate another spiced bun and shared a second apple with Gahltha, accepting that one more attempt to find Maruman had failed. I resolved glumly to ask the futuretellers to scry out Maruman’s whereabouts. Once I knew where he was, I could send the coercer-knights to get him. The knights had bound themselves to serve the master of Obernewtyn unquestioningly, or in this case, the temporary mistress, and they would just have to face the old cat’s wrath.

‘As will we,’ Gahltha sent ruefully.

I said nothing, for the thought of having to consult the futuretellers filled me with a different kind of anxiety. Indeed, this whole expedition had been an attempt to evade the need to face the Futuretell guildmistress, Maryon, whom I had been avoiding since my return from Sador. Aside from the fact that she seldom gave a clear answer to a question, Maryon’s visions often addressed something other than the thing you had come to ask, usually the very thing you wanted least to talk about.

As I mounted Gahltha, I decided the worst of it was the knowledge that the Futuretell guildmistress had probably already foreseen my coming to her, and would be expecting me.

Chapter 2

2

I was barely back in my turret room above the Farseeker wing of Obernewtyn before there was a knock at the door.

‘Enter,’ I called, repressing a sigh.

Ceirwan came in carrying an armful of wood. “Tis colder than it has been an’ I thought ye mun want a bit of a fire tonight.’ I grunted an assent, having no wish to talk, but as he knelt to lay the fire, the guilden said, ‘I’ll have some food brought up, since ye missed nightmeal.’

It was not quite a reproach. I told the Farseeker guilden firmly that I was not hungry, and bade him inform the futuretellers I would be waiting upon their guildmistress on the morrow.

‘Ye’ll ask Maryon if Rushton is on his way up fer th’ moon fair?’ Ceirwan asked, watching the fire crackle to life.

‘Rushton will return when he returns,’ I said coolly. ‘I mean to ask the futuretellers about Maruman. I am worried about him.’