But after darkmoon we would enter the Days of Rain when the ships were due to sail, so I had decided to tell Rushton Dragon’s identity as soon as he returned, whether or not she was still missing. I turned onto my side and sighed. I had resolved not to worry about Dragon, and here I was doing just that. Yet she might very well simply appear in time to travel with the ships. Had not the other clues been found when I had least expected them? And I had only to call into Saithwold on the way to the ships to learn what Cassy had left for me in the statue there, created ostensibly to mark the safe-passage agreement.

The truth was that it was Cassandra’s key that now seemed the only thing impossible to obtain before the ships left for the Red Land.

Chapter 3

3

Unable to sleep and weary of lying there listening to the rain and worrying, I sat up, slid my feet into woven slippers and went to the deep, recessed shelf under the window. The air felt damp, and I shivered. I could see nothing through the half-open shutters save for the glimmer of the few drops that caught the dim ruby light cast by the dying fire, but it was still raining hard.

I drew out a long, narrow, heavy parcel and laid it on the tapestried window seat. Folding back the cloth wrapping I bared the stone sword that I had been given in the Earthtemple.

Here was another puzzle, for although the sword had been left for me by Cassy, it did not appear to be connected to my quest as the Seeker. The reigning overguardian had told me that the mystic Kasanda had instructed that the sword be given to the Seeker when they came for the last sign. I had been bidden keep it with me until I found its rightful owner. I could not imagine who would want such an unwieldy and useless thing as a stone sword, nor could I guess why Cassy had left it to me to return it to its owner. The only thing I could think of was that she had foreseen that my path would bring me into contact with them.