Yet what if Rushton were to die before I had completed my quest? I would have to go on living, for I had sworn an oath to complete my quest and I was not my own person until it was done. Or what if I was dying, and in doing so, was dragging Rushton to his death? Would I not want our link severed, to save him?

‘Elspeth?’

I opened my eyes, startled, and found myself looking at my reflection in Rushton’s eyes. It was not the goddess Elspeth that his spirit saw when it looked at me, but the true me, eyes dark with secrets, hair a great dishevelled black cloud.

‘Is something wrong?’

There was concern in Rushton’s expression but the sadness that I had seen in his eyes before he had let me draw him into unconsciousness was gone, which told me that the knowledge he had got from our mindmerge was securely chained to his spirit, leaving no trace in his conscious mind. ‘If I was too rough …’ he said, looking remorseful.

‘No!’ I cried, and leaned up to kiss his mouth softly. His arm tightened around me, but I drew back and looked pointedly at the small glass window where a sagging bit of hessian hung crooked, letting in a narrow beam of grey daylight.

He sighed. ‘I know, I know. I cannot believe we slept the whole night. It was early evening when we came here.’

‘They will be looking for us soon,’ I said.

He scowled. ‘Linnet has already managed to give me a painful prod during a brief break in the rain. She wanted to know when I would be coming back to the house.’

‘Did she … does she know we are together …’ I stopped, confused.

Rushton smiled almost sheepishly. ‘She had barely managed to ask before it started to rain again. Fortunately it is still raining a little, but I had better go back before she comes looking for me.’

He sat up, but when I would have done the same, he gently pushed me down, and bade me lie in while I had the chance. ‘I will go and see Grufyyd about these lemons and I will talk to Alad about the wet-weather plans for the moon fair, and then I will come back and we can walk up to the house together. Of course, if I could choose, I would rather stay here.’ His eyes swept over me from head to toe in a way that made my blood feel as if it were running backwards through my veins. He knelt to kiss me and said softly, ‘I will always remember you in this moment, lying there with your hair all dark and tumbled about your white shoulders and lovely breasts. How beautiful you are, my love. My ravek.’