I listened at the door before opening it and looking out. I could not help wondering if Rushton had gone to his bed after he brought the wreath, or to the farms or back to the kitchens? He had always been able to survive on very little sleep when there were things that demanded his attention, but even he had to sleep sometimes. This thought was a painful reminder that I had promised to wake him when I woke. It was only one of many promises, great and small, that I would break by leaving so suddenly and silently.

I closed the door of my chamber behind me only to find the lanterns in the stairwell had gone out, but a dim bluish predawn light fell from the roof window and I made my way down by it. Maruman, having the night vision of a cat, had no need of lanterns to light his way, and he had already gone ahead and was waiting for me at the bottom of the steps, tail lashing.

The Farseekers hall lay still and quiet. There were two windows at the far end, which cast elongated squares of ghostly bluish light on the dark boards, but the garden outside was enveloped in mist. At a soft hiss from Maruman I set off across the hall, thinking of all the Farseeker meetings and training sessions that had occurred here, all the laughter and arguments and tears that I had witnessed. Then I was descending the short stair leading to the angled passage I had come along after spending the night with Rushton.

Opening the door at the end of it, I stepped into the misty predawn, feeling as if I were setting off on a Farseeker expedition, only this time there was no rescue to be made and no return to look forward to.

There was no sign of Darga, and as Maruman leapt onto the path and set off towards the farms, I wondered if that one enigmatic appearance had been the last I would see of the Herder-bred dog.

I followed Maruman, walking on my toes to mute the sound of heavy boots, which would carry far in the stillness of the predawn. Again I noted how easily and fluidly the old cat moved. A head-high wall bordered the path on the left, but when it gave way to a hedgerow, Maruman immediately slipped under it and vanished. I did not have to ask why we were not continuing along the path, since I knew, as Maruman must have seen or scented, that further along, both sides of the path were clogged with tents pitched to accommodate moon fair visitors.