By the time I reached my turret room, I was shivering with cold in my damp clothes and my headache had worsened. Accepting glumly that I had probably taken a chill, I stripped off my wet garments and pulled on a robe, fragrant from the cedar chest where it had been stored. Someone had lit and banked a fire the night before and there were enough hot embers remaining for me to get it alight again. I stood before it to warm myself while I waited for a kettle of water to boil. I had some herbs which, steeped in hot water, would soothe my throat and hopefully I would need nothing more, since my body was probably already mustering the self-healing skills taught it by the Agyllian healer Nerat. By the morrow, I would be perfectly well, sooner if I slept an hour or two and surrendered wholly to the healing process, but before I could think of taking to my bed I had to go to the Healing Hall to see if Darius and Kella had tried yet to rouse Miky. I also wanted to ask Kella about Dragon, since she had been virtually the last person to see the girl before she disappeared.

I would sleep a few hours in the afternoon, I decided, for I needed to be fresh that night, when I was determined to finally seek out Atthis on the dreamtrails. Yet as I shed my robe and dressed in dry clothes, it was hard to feel the urgency of anything. A languid warmth like honey seemed to be flowing through me which made me feel as if I were melting from within. I went to look at myself in the little mirror set upon the mantelshelf above the fire. Glad no one had seen me looking so dishevelled, I unbraided my hair. But this led me to remembering the feel of Rushton’s fingers caressing my head. Every touch seemed to lead back to the previous night.

I fought to school my thoughts as I combed my hair briskly. It would be mortifying if I went about all day leaking emotions and intimate images! I noted that my lips were swollen and my cheeks were very flushed. It is only the fever, I told myself firmly, turning my back on the mirror. Nevertheless I was glad I had not encountered anyone on the way to the turret room, clad in damp crumpled clothes with unravelling hair, my lips red from being kissed. It was not that I was shamed by what had happened, it was rather that it was too precious, too full of joy and sorrow to be exposed to anyone yet.

I felt Ceirwan’s probe touch my mind lightly and I shielded my private thoughts firmly and opened my mind to him. ‘Good morning, Guildmistress,’ he greeted me cheerfully. ‘Linnet said you an’ Rushton decided to stay down on th’ farms last night. It was a very wild night.’