It must have been near dawn when I went back to my room. To my surprise, a servant waited there, looking angry and nervous. She noticed that I was fully dressed, and frowned. “So you already know,” she said.

“Know what?” I asked. “I could not sleep. I’ve been walking on the terraces.”

Her eyebrows rose, and she said arrogantly, “You have a visitor. He’s been travelling a long time, on foot. He demands to see you. He says the matter is extremely urgent. He will tell no one what he wants. He must speak with you. He is in the great hall on the ground floor. He waits now.”

Deeply apprehensive, I went downstairs and entered the great hall. It was the same hall in which I had first confronted Maelmor and the priests. I closed the huge wooden doors behind me, and faced the man.

He was about my age, and had long dark hair, a sable beard and dark, flashing eyes. He was standing by a wall torch, and the light glinted on the jewel fixed to his black cloak, and on his leather belt and sword hilt. His clothes were grey and ragged. A servant had given him a silver goblet of wine, and when he saw me he took a slow sip of it, and gave me a long, appraising stare. He was all defiance and anger, and the very air about him was tense.

“Elsha of the Quelled,” he said, with venom. “Seven days I’ve walked to see you.”

He came over to me, his eyes flickering across my clothes, my hair, my face. He half laughed, and gazed in my eyes with scorn, straight, as if I were not Quelled. “So. My great adversary Greetings.”

“This is hardly an acceptable hour for visiting,” I said, “and I am cold and tired. State your business, and go.”

“My business, harsha? My business is the business of divining. I have come to take my place. The former Firelord trained me in the laws, and in the diviner’s powers. He had designated me to replace him. I am Zune, the new Firelord.”

I closed my eyes and tried to stop the awful wheeling of the earth.

“You joke, surely,” I said. “He said nothing of you, or of training someone else.”

“Why should he? It was nothing to do with you. But when he left you at Talbar, he visited me and completed my training. He suggested that I ask you to be my handmaid. I know that he was well pleased with you. But your work is done. You are free to return to Siranjaro.”

“My work is hardly begun. I will not leave, Zune. I am here as future diviner. I have passed the test, my divining power is proved. Ask the priests. They will confirm that.”