So now I merely said, ‘I am afraid I have another task first, and one that is like to prove long and difficult and dangerous.’

‘It does not matter,’ Sendari sent. ‘I/we have sworn to serve Innle in all ways until the beasts are free.’

‘Did the oldOnes bid you go with Swallow?’ I asked.

‘The funaga-ha who rides me is lecuna-Innle.’

‘That means one-who-serves-the-Seeker,’ the black horse offered and I stroked his neck, noting the shine to his mane, and wondered idly who had brushed it.

‘There were many horses that would have been glad to carry a lecuna-Innle, some younger and more fleet, but he chose me / Sendari, for I am strong / steadfast and my mind does not bolt or shy easily,’ the grey announced.

‘I, too, am honoured to serve you / Elspethlnnle,’ Falada said.

‘We all serve my quest,’ I said gently. ‘But I am glad to see you again.’

I realised my irritation with her rider had faded, for it had partly been born of frustration, and yet I had spoken honestly to the tribesman. If his pigheadedness and pride made him follow me, then that was his choice. It was not as if he had been a burden. On the contrary, from what Dameon said, he had been of real use and he could forage as well as track. It might even be that Atthis had foreseen his presence, and woven it into her schemes.

I had thought for one moment that Atthis’s successor had taken power when Analivia talked of dreaming about Sentinel since coming to the valley, but it had been a past-dream she meant. Yet that was remarkable enough, given who her dreams had been about.

Faraf nuzzled at my cheek to interrupt my musings, saying shyly that she was glad to see me again too, and to be carrying a lecuna-Innle whom she had come to love as a brother, but most of all she was glad to be able to repay me for saving her life in Sador, when I had yielded to the traitorous rebel leader Malik in the Battlegames.

‘There was no debt, for I put you in danger by miscalculating my opponent’s ruthlessness,’ I said. ‘But he is dead and we live.’

‘How did he die?’ she asked curiously.

‘He died because his allies did not trust him,’ I said. Then I asked all of them if they had seen anything of Maruman.

‘He sleeps in a tree nearby,’ Gahltha sent. ‘Shall I show you where he is?’

‘Let him sleep,’ I said. ‘I would be glad of a few hours’ sleep myself if I was not chilled to the bone from my bathe.’

‘I would be glad to give you my warmth,’ Faraf offered.