‘A powerful futureteller could see a great deal, particularly if they have trained their Talent an’ if that which they scry out is nowt too far in th’ future. But all futuretellers see vastly less than there is to be seen, which is why they may ken what will happen out of all that might happen no more accurately than a futureteller novice.’ My face must have shown my bewilderment, for Maryon went on in the slightly lecturing tone she used on the novices in her guild. ‘No matter how it mun seem, the future is nowt fixed, Elspeth. That is a hard thing fer folk to grasp when they think of futuretelling. There are limitless possible futures and a futureteller only sees some of these. The greater the Talent, the more possibilities they will see, and some differ only in small and unimportant ways while others differ in small but vital ways. An’ still with all a futureteller can see, they will not see all.’

‘And yet not seeing all, you speak of what you see; you act,’ I said, unable to prevent an accusing note from creeping into my voice.

‘A wise futureteller will focus on the best possible future of those they have seen, an’ then follow the thread of events leading to that future, to see if anything can be done to strengthen it. Sometimes speaking of the seeing is part of that.’ She gave me a sharp look. ‘It is our practice to say as little as we can, and rarely to recommend a course of action unless we see some great evil that must be averted, whatever the cost.

I cut in. ‘When you bade me journey to Sutrium last spring –’

‘I had a random true dream of the west coast as a wasteland, corpses plague-scarred and rotting in desolate cities, a feast for crows and rats. I sought out the vision apurpose afterwards, expectin’ to find it easily fer it was a vast event an’ would affect thousands of people. But instead I saw fightin’ betwixt th’ rebels an’ soldierguards and the Herder priests on th’ west coast, but no plague and nowt near so many dead as in th’ first vision. I scried again an’ saw the plague future an’ I scried again an’ saw th’ future with war but no plague. I tried again an’ again, an’ it was always the same – two possible futures, equally balanced in likelihood, both dark, though one immeasurably more so than the other. I traced back the events leadin’ to th’ future with the battles an’ no plague, tryin’ to identify what might be done to strengthen it an’ I narrowed the balancing event down to your journey to Saithwold. Simply put, in visions when ye went to Saithwold, th’ future containing the plague did not come to pass. But when ye dinna enter Saithwold, th’ plague future dominated.