I was about to take one of the worn tracks leading away from the maze gate when I noticed Gavyn kneeling by a tree at the bottom of a slight slope running down to the nearest orchard, gazing intently into the face of the enormous pale ridgeback, Rasial. If it had been anyone else, I would have gone down to ask what she was doing, for Gavyn had no beastspeaking Talent. Indeed, these days he hardly seemed to take in what was said to him and Rasial never responded to any communication from humans except during the Beastguild meetings which she presided over in the absence of its true guildmistress, the mountain mare Avra.

I turned to make my way towards the scatter of farm buildings that lay between the maze gate and the wall surrounding Obernewtyn, pondering the friendship that had grown up between the unlikely pair. In my opinion, Gavyn’s attachment to Rasial was not a reflection of the boy’s inclination to beasts, as the Beastspeaking guildmaster believed. Nor did I consider that he had thralled the she-dog, even if that would explain why she rarely left his side. In truth I could not imagine the bitter, iron-willed canine being enthralled by anyone or anything.

Thralling was the name we had recently given to the rare and difficult blend of coercion and empathy, but there were too few possessing it to warrant a guild. Indeed, the only other enthraller at Obernewtyn was Freya, and her Talent was not something that could be controlled. In practice it enhanced the Talents of those about her, but she could not prevent herself enhancing nor specifically direct her Talent. She simply affected anyone within her limited range. Aside from Gavyn and Freya, I had known only three other enthrallers. One was the infant Lidgebaby, whose fledgling power I had encountered when held captive by the renegade priest Henry Druid. The second was Dragon, whom I had rescued from a feral existence among Beforetime ruins, but Dragon’s Talent worked exclusively upon humans.

The third enthraller was my nemesis, Ariel.

As far as I knew, Gavyn was the only one who could direct his enthralling powers to affect beasts and humans alike, although he had shown no interest in learning how to manage or strengthen his abilities. What we knew about his Talent came from observation and from all his nursemaid, Seely, had told us.