I wondered now if she had been angry with me for risking my quest to save Rushton’s life. She had contacted Maruman to tell him that I must return in all haste to Obernewtyn, but she had not told him why it had been so important. Was it possible that she would have done so, but she had been unable to reach me because of Maruman’s absence? I could try to reach her directly, but that would mean using the dreamtrails, which immediately reminded me of the malevolent force that had pursued me there. I was still unable to make up my mind if it had been a figment of nightmare, or Ariel’s unconsciously formed spirit-shape seeking to harm me. Realising I had been sitting for some minutes in dumbfounded silence, I stood up abruptly. ‘I’m sorry but I need to go and get dressed. Elkar and Cinda, when you have finished eating, Zarak will show you where you can bathe once the water is heated and then you should sleep for a few hours. In the afternoon, I will send someone to show you around. There are matters I must attend to now, but I will see you again in the evening.’

Zarak was still standing and now he said uncertainly, ‘I hope I have not spoken out of turn, Guildmistress. I thought the master of Obernewtyn would already have told you what the overguardian said.’

‘The master of Obernewtyn?’ I echoed. ‘Whatever do you mean? How could he tell me when he is not here?’

Now it was Zarak’s turn to look thunderstruck. ‘But Guildmistress, he must have got here by now. Why, he rode out of Sutrium a good half day before the rest of us. Indeed, he was leaving even as I arrived at Dardelan’s residence. It was he who first told me of the message brought by Powyrs, when he bade me carry news to my father. I sent a missive to Saithwold for I had made up my mind then and there to come up here straight away.’

I felt sick. ‘I have not seen Rushton since Sador,’ I said.

The others looked concerned and now people at nearby tables were turning to us, sensing a disturbance from the tone of our voices or because of our emotional emanations. I forced a smile and lowered my voice to say, ‘Well, maybe he went to the farms first, to let Alad know what was happening.’

‘But he can’t have done, Elspeth,’ Ceirwan protested. ‘Alad sent Lina up about th’ horses, remember, an’ she said nowt of th’ master of Obernewtyn bein’ there.’

‘I spoke to Alad just now, too, but I did not think to ask about Rushton,’ Zarak said worriedly.

‘All right, then maybe he went and slept at Louis Larkin’s place. He does that sometimes and it would have been very late when he arrived,’ I said, issuing a terse farspoken warning to Ceirwan to do no more speculating aloud lest he set off a panic by reminding people about what happened to Rushton the last time he had been expected and had not arrived.