‘Straaka’s spirit plucks at the dreams of those who knew him when he lived,’ Bruna answered. Now she straightened and said very formally, ‘I bring a message from the overguardian of the Earthtemple, to Elspeth Gordie, guildmistress of the Farseekers of Obernewtyn. Straaka’s spirit must find peace. One of the men who rode here with me is the brother of Straaka. His name is Ahmedri. He will remain with you until he learns where Straaka’s bones lie, for they must be returned to the desert lands.’

‘With me …?’ I echoed.

‘The overguardian is a kasanda,’ Bruna continued. ‘She foresaw that when you free Straaka’s betrothed, she will lead Ahmedri to his brother’s bones.’

‘I, free Miryum?’ I asked, dumbfounded. ‘Are you saying she is a prisoner?’

‘The overguardian said that Straaka will lead you to the woman and when she is freed she will reveal the whereabouts of his bones to Ahmedri. I do not know who holds her prisoner.’

‘Wait, even if Miryum is being held captive somewhere, how can you speak of Straaka’s bones and then tell me in the same breath that he will lead me to her?’ I demanded.

‘The overguardian said that his spirit will find yours.’

I stared at her. If she spoke of spirits then she was speaking of the dreamtrails, that mysterious echo of reality, which rose up like smoke from a fire, and was visible only to spirit-eyes. It was true that I could summon up a spirit-form and will myself to the dreamtrails, but Atthis had warned me explicitly to avoid them because the Destroyer would seek me there. I thought of the dark spirit-form that had pursued me in my nightmares and shivered.

But even if I were willing to risk encountering the Destroyer to search for Straaka on the dreamtrails, there would be no point. Straaka was dead and a spirit severed from its flesh would have been drawn immediately into the mindstream. Even if Straaka’s spirit had found some way to delay that final merging, how was I to find him when spirit-forms did not mimic the flesh they had inhabited, but expressed a potent aspect of the character or the dominant emotion of the person or beast? It would be like trying to recognise someone wearing a mask.

Bruna regarded me sympathetically, then she reached out to rest a hand on my shoulder and said, ‘I must go to Domina now.’

When Ceirwan arrived a little while later, he brought Tomash to guide the tribeswoman through the maze, for the direct path was the site of much activity since it had been designated one of the places where visitors would set up camp for the moon fair. All of the cloth tents we had were in the process of being pitched there, despite the rain, for those who came without covered wagons.