‘Several moons past,’ Swallow answered.

‘Several moons past,’ I echoed. Atthis would have been alive to communicate her commands to him then, as she had been alive to communicate with Dameon and Faraf, but what of the voice that had spoken to Analivia of Sentinel after her arrival in the valley of the Skylake? That could not have been Atthis.

‘You look pale as milk. You had better sit down before you fall down,’ Swallow advised. ‘Finding us here is clearly a shock to you. I have to say I am surprised you were not expecting us. Me at least.’

‘I have not had any dreams with voices to advise me that you were coming,’ I said, letting myself be ushered to a log covered with a blanket, wondering what they would say when I told them that their dream voice belonged to a futuretelling bird and that the bird had died. I felt a wave of nausea and anxiety and put my hand to my head. ‘It is very hard for me to hear you speak openly of matters that have long been secret. I was sworn never to tell anyone what I must do, lest it cause me to fail in my quest to find and stop Sentinel.’

‘You have not revealed it,’ Swallow said. ‘It is simply that we were let in on the secret to assist you.’

I shook my head and looked around at them, wondering why, of all the people who might have been chosen to help me, these had been sent – Swallow and Analivia were skilled in survival and Analivia admittedly had some healing skills, though mostly connected to midwifery, but neither were Talented, and Dameon, though Talented, was blind. And why Gavyn? The beasts made better sense, for they had always known what I was, though their knowledge was more connected to their belief that I was the Innle of beastlegend, who would lead all beasts to freedom from humans, than to my quest. None of the three had mentioned this, which meant that no beast had divulged it. And what did that mean?

I had instinctively shielded my thoughts, but it struck me belatedly that there was no need. None of them had farseeking or coercive Talents. If I wished to farseek them, I would have to form a probe, as I had done with Cinda. Dameon was looking at me with concern and I realised that, as usual, I was leaking emotions.

‘I saw you in a dream, Dameon,’ I told him impulsively. ‘You had just arrived at Obernewtyn. You were in the front entrance and Rushton came up to you.’ I shook my head. ‘I thought it was a … true dream, but you are here.’