‘Gevan is disposin’ them on the roof an’ in the upper balconies that face the entrance, poor sods,’ Ceirwan said.

‘The coercers are armed?’

‘Quivers and arrows and darts since they canna’ use their Talents in this curst rain, an’ poles are no use at a distance. They will not use them unless they must.’

‘Good, for these riders may not be enemies,’ I said.

He nodded. ‘I sent Aras to ask Louis an’ Alad to organise food an’ stable space for horses, an’ I sent Freya to warn Javo that porridge an’ toast might be in order,’ Ceirwan assured me. ‘We mun hope for the best an’ be prepared fer the worst.’

‘Let’s hope that we’re soon sitting down to firstmeal, and news,’ I said, somewhat taken aback at how readily we had gone from a state of peace to this anxious vigilance. Was it because, underneath all the optimism and hope of this new age of freedom, no Misfit could ever quite believe that the bad times were over?

‘Linnet is on her way here now,’ Ceirwan broke into my thoughts. ‘She bade me tell ye an escort of knights will accompany ye if ye gan out to greet th’ riders. Even if they are ruffians, they might want to parley.’

I sighed at the thought of a formal escort, but there was no use arguing, since the knights were sworn to protect the master of Obernewtyn and in Rushton’s absence that was me. At least having knights about me would ameliorate the bedraggled picture I was like to present trailing drenched skirts and straggling hair.

‘Ye could try to lure them inside with the offer of a fire an’ food but if they mean harm they are like to insist any parley take place in th’ rain,’ Ceirwan said.

‘You assume they will know that rain inhibits our Talents?’ I asked.

The guilden shrugged. ‘If there are Hedra among the riders, they did enough foul experimentin’ on our kind to ken everything about us.’ There was an edge to Ceirwan’s tone that reminded me of his horror when I had told him about Misfit children being reduced to mindless nulls by Ariel’s foul experiments in the Norselands.

‘Are we to have any warning that they have arrived?’ I asked.

The guilden nodded, saying the young farseeker novice Leander was stationed outside the door. The minute he saw the riders, he had instructions to rap on the door. I did not envy him or the coercers on the roof for it was a foul night, truly. Tucking my long trailing sleeves into my belt, I wondered if there was time enough to send for boots. My slippers would be ruined if I had to go out into the muddy wash that was the drive.

Linnet arrived and said without preamble, ‘I just saw Gevan. He says Declyn can see the riders and reckons their number at thirty. It’s impossible to tell if they have barrels of black powder but if they do, it’ll be useless in this rain, and without it, there are more than enough coercers and knights to deal with them.’