The Caller Read Free Page B

the Master of Shadows to visit.’
    ‘This fellow with Flint, the other Enforcer,’ said Fingal. ‘He must have got a good look at you.’
    ‘He did.’ I remembered the open-faced, fair-haired warrior who had checked whether I had supplies for the way, and had asked not a single awkward question. I had seen him in dreams, too, for my dreams of Flint were especially vivid, thanks to his ability as a mind-mender. ‘I believe he’s a friend. If he wasn’t, he’d have expected to make an end of both Tali and me in the woods that day. I’m sure that’s what the king and queen intended to happen.’
    ‘Let’s hope you’re right, Neryn, because if you’re not, Flint’s in even more trouble than we thought,’ Tali said. ‘As it is, there’s the account Daw brought of his meeting with Sage. I’m still finding that hard to accept. When we met Flint in the isles, he gave us no reason to think he’d suddenly walk away from his position at court, especially at a time when his services are so vital to the cause.’
    ‘It costs him dearly to do what he does,’ I said. ‘Of us all, he has the hardest part to play.’
    ‘The story was that he rode back to court with the Enforcers who came to fetch him,’ Big Don said. ‘What we don’t know is whether he was in their custody, a prisoner, or whether he managed to give them some plausible excuse for heading off on his own like that. Flint’s pretty good at lying; he’s had a lot of practice over the years, and from what he’s told us in the past, the king’s often inclined to believe him where others wouldn’t. Maybe he can talk himself out of this.’
    ‘Either way, it’s disturbing.’ Tali’s jaw was set grimly. ‘If there’s any chance Flint’s lost the king’s trust, our source of information from court is gone. He won’t be sending word out and we won’t be sending messengers in. That will make it much harder to have everything in place for midsummer.’ She had many elements to coordinate: not only the fighting force of Shadowfell itself, but groups of rebels in various other locations, along with the personal armies of three of Alban’s chieftains. And that was only the human part of the rebellion. Provided I completed my training in time, I would be calling in a substantial number of Good Folk to fight alongside Tali’s human warriors.
    ‘We’d offer our own kind tae bear messages,’ Woodrush said, ‘if it werena for the cold iron in those places. Your man will be travellin’ tae Winterfort wi’ the king and his court for the cold season, aye?’
    ‘Correct,’ said Tali. ‘They’ll be there until early summer. A long way, even for bird-friends. Your folk have been an asset to the cause; we wouldn’t be where we are if you hadn’t spread the word across Alban for us. But as you say, both the king’s residences will be full of Enforcers armed with iron weaponry. If Flint’s in some kind of custody, we can’t help him. He’s on his own.’
    ‘I’m hoping that before midsummer I’ll learn how to protect your folk against cold iron,’ I said to Woodrush and her companions. ‘I’ve been told the Master of Shadows may know the secret. I’ll visit him after I’ve travelled east to find the White Lady.’
    ‘It doesna add up.’ Hawkbit had been unusually silent. Now the wee man fixed his eyes on me in grim question. ‘Ye were gone frae first shootin’ until last leaf-fall, seekin’ oot the Hag and the Lord and learnin’ what ye had tae learn. There’s twa more Guardians tae visit, and ye’ve only till midsummer tae get it done. And one o’ them’s the Master o’ Shadows. Ye canna –’
    ‘We don’t say cannot here at Shadowfell,’ Tali put in firmly, silencing him. ‘And we don’t say impossible . Neryn and I were caught up in the crowd heading for the Gathering; that slowed us. And before that, I made an error of judgement that took us out of our way.’
    There was a silence, in which I suspected everyone was