‘I don’t know how or how much he knows,’ I said. ‘Back when we were at Obernewtyn together, I think he knew as little as I did. But he learned about Sentinel and the Balance of Terror arsenal and he began to want them. He probably thought, as I did, that they were the same thing or that they were in the same place and he believed that I would be able to locate it. Later, he learned that knowing where Sentinel was meant nothing if he did not know how to get to it and make it work. Somehow, he discovered that I and I alone had the potential to gather what would be needed. I think it enraged him, for although he had powerful allies, he had no choice but to sit back and wait until I learned the things I needed to know. It has made him hate me and those about me, and since he cannot afford to hurt me, he has struck out more than once over the years at my friends and those I love, to make me suffer.’

‘Rushton …’ Dameon murmured.

I went on swiftly, not wanting to speak of what Ariel had done to Rushton. ‘More than once he came to my dreams to tell me that, much as he desired it, he could not kill me because he needed me. I think he spirit-travelled unconsciously in those days, moved by rage and impotence. He was not truly aware of dreamtravelling or of communicating with me. That came later.’

‘And what do you have that he needs?’ Dameon asked softly.

‘Swallow told you of the messages left for me by Cassandra?’ I asked and they nodded. ‘All of those concern phrases or things that I will need to get to Sentinel. But Ariel did not have a Cassandra to help him, so he needs me, or more correctly, he needs the knowledge that I will have. I think Ariel is the main reason Atthis made me keep my quest secret, to ensure that he never learned about her or Cassandra and to make it impossible for him to find out what they had left for me. I think she only told all of you about me because the time for secrecy is over. The next time I see Ariel, if ever I do again, it will be when I come to face Sentinel.’

‘Still, why not make getting his hands on you his primary purpose?’ Swallow asked. ‘Why go to the Red Land, which may not even be where Sentinel is?’

‘The fact that he has gone there is the one thing that makes me cling to the idea that it is there,’ I said. ‘For why would Ariel go there unless he is very sure that Sentinel is there or in some other land beyond the Red Land?’