He met my look with an ambivalent stare. It was almost a challenge. Before I could speak, he sent Matthew to find someone from the Futuretell Guild, then he ushered me towards the Guildmerge, matching his steps to my own limping progress.
'What has happened?' I asked.
Rushton turned to look at me. The Council is showing a renewed interest in us. Two men were up in the Highlands asking questions about Obernewtyn.'
'You think they were from the Council?'
He shrugged angrily. 'I know nothing, except that I am tired of my ignorance. Do you remember when I went to Claim Obernewtyn in Sutrium?' he asked unexpectedly.
I remembered. Sutrium was the centre of Council activities. It had not been easy for him to convince us to wait for his return. Many had wanted to leave fearing this would lead to their capture and Burning. That we had chosen to wait had been an act of faith in Rushton. We had never regretted it.
'I remember,' I murmured.
'I thought the Council trusted me. Maybe I was wrong. With farseeker or coercer help, I could have made sure. Now it would be different.'
'Now?' I echoed.
Rushton looked at me, his green eyes glowing with sudden excitement, as if he had resolved some inner doubt. 'It's time we found out what the Council is up to. Time we made a move into their territory.'
'Sutrium?' I whispered.
'Sutrium,' Rushton said.
2
As usual, Guildmerge was held in the circular room which had once served as Alexi's experiment chamber. Only the bookshelves concealing the alcoves adjoining the central chamber and the enormous fireplace remained of the old laboratory where he and Madam Vega had pursued their researches.
The steep passage hidden behind the pivoting fireplace was now used only for easy transport of knots of firewood into the meeting hall in winter. Like other such passages at Obernewtyn, it was no longer a secret, although Lina was convinced the old buildings must be riddled with passages and was forever to be found tapping the walls and listening for telltale hollowness.
Obernewtyn's first master, the reclusive Lukas Seraphim, had been a morose and secretive man, and the great grey buildings reflected his personality.
Louis, who could still remember the man who had carved Obernewtyn out of the wilderness on what was then the very fringe of Blacklands, said he had possessed a mind that was as much a labyrinth as the greenthorn maze separating the main house from the farms.
Since Rushton had taken over, much of the buildings had been altered to provide better access to all parts of the rambling wings, and each guild had been allocated a certain section of Obernewtyn as its base. The chamber where Guildmerge sat had once been accessible only through a concealed panel in Madam Vega's chamber. The walls had since been knocked down and two broad doors installed.
Though cavernous, the domed meeting room was kept warm by the padded shelves of books on all sides, and an enormous fire. There was nothing in the room but a long trestle table and a number of chairs. I had seated myself near the fire, surreptitiously toasting my sore feet.
The buzz of talk was louder than usual, partly because of the abrupt way Rushton had called the meeting, and partly because it was a full Guildmerge, almost all wards and guildens as well as guildmasters were present. Even the irascible Garth was there looking impatient and bored.
On the other side of the table sat Ceirwan, still clad in riding clothes. I felt momentarily irritated by the Guildmerge rule restricting communication during meetings to the spoken word, but I did not try to reach him. Matthew returned and seated himself next to Dameon, opposite me. The blind Empath guildmaster smiled at me unerringly, sensing my attention. Empaths could read emotions the way farseekers read thoughts, though few were actually able to converse mentally. Some empaths, like Dameon, could also transmit emotion. The twin Empath guilden, Miky and Angina, sat beside him, deep in animated discussion.
Rushton had walked to the head of the table and was now talking to Domick, a fierce frown of concentration on his face. The Coercer ward responded quickly, stabbing his finger in the air for emphasis.
Next to them, Maryon sat staring into the distance, a slight smile on her lips. No one could mistake her for anything but a futureteller. She had come back with Matthew, but the seat beside her was empty. I wondered what was important enough to keep the Futuretell guilden, Christa, away. Roland was alone in representing his guild. This was not unusual. The healers put their patients before anything else. Next, and completing the table, were the Beasting Guild - Alad looking unusually grim.
I was conscious of an expectant atmosphere among us as Rushton began to speak, reminding us of the day we had taken over Obernewtyn, of the first Guildmerge and ending with our pledge to abolish the name of Misfit in the Land. He invited those with business to raise their hand. Traditionally, Rushton spoke last at Guild-merge. This meant that whatever had prompted the sudden Guildmerge must wait until all other matters had been dealt with. His eyes widened speculatively at my hand among those few to rise.
Alad rose to speak, again raising the need for animals to be represented on Guildmerge by one of their own. As before, no one could decide which animal should represent all animals, and whether the animals should propose their own candidate. The increasing dominance of the volatile younger horses' attitude was raised. With a hint of impatience, Rushton suggested the matter be passed on to the next Guildmerge.
The Beasting guildmaster frowned. 'This is the third time it's been put off. It's time we dealt with this once and for all.'
'It will be dealt with. Next time,' Rushton said tersely.
'The animals themselves requested a decision one way or the other. There will be trouble if it is left any longer,' Alad said coldly.
Rushton lifted his brows questioningly. 'Threats, Alad?'
The guildmaster shook his head. 'Just a warning, Rushton. They have the right.'
Rushton said nothing and Alad sat looking disgruntled and preoccupied. I was surprised at his persistence. Everyone knew it was only a matter of time until animals had a representative. That and rumours of trouble from the horses made me decide it was time I visited the farms again.
The Coercer Guild then proposed a competition, a contest of coercer skills, pitting one against another until a champion be announced. Master, guilden and ward would be excluded. This resulted in a heated discussion about the value of competitiveness. The Futuretell ward argued persuasively against it, saying it would produce anti-social and aggressive tendencies in an already aggressive guild.
'The aim of Obernewtyn is to have all minds working together for a common goal, not to isolate winners from losers and devalue those whose skills are less violent,' she said.
The Healer Guild was even more seriously opposed. Rushton interrupted what looked like erupting into an argument to suggest the coercers draw up a complete plan for their proposed tournament. This would then be voted on by a full Guildmerge.
He nodded to me and I stood. 'I request that the ban on Teknoguild expeditions be lifted.'
Rushton frowned. He did not like anyone to step outside the procedures which governed Guildmerge and made it work smoothly. 'This is a strange request for the Farseeker guildmistress to make, Elspeth,' he said. 'Surely it's up to Garth, especially since he graces us with his presence today.'
There was a titter of humour, since everyone knew of the Teknoguild master's reluctance to leave his laboratory. Garth scowled.
'This request concerns my guild,' I said quietly.
Rushton's eyes bored into mine. 'What interest could you have in the Teknoguild expeditions? If I recall, you were among those to vote for the ban.'
I took a deep breath. 'If the ban were lifted, I would propose a joint expedition.'
Rushton shook his head emphatically. 'If I refuse to let teknoguilders kill themselves roaming on poisoned Blackland fringes, I would hardly let farseekers replace them!' he said with impatient sarcasm.
The death toll among teknoguilders had
always been high. The ban had been enforced after a disastrous Teknoguild expedition in which Henry Druid's people and the teknoguilders clashed over a newly discovered ruin on the Black fringes. The argument had ended in a mysterious explosion which killed most of both parties. Either the Druids, as Henry Druid's men named themselves, had deliberately set off a forbidden weapon, or some ancient device hidden in the ruins had been accidentally triggered. Either way there had been no further Teknoguild expeditions, and no more had been seen of Henry Druid or his followers.
Henry Druid had been among the first to oppose the Council's book-burning laws. A Herder novice, he had been cast out by the Herder Faction and had fled to exile in the high country. Rushton had been befriended by the old ex-Herder, and for a time their paths had matched. But the old man's fierce hatred of the Council was exceeded only by his hatred of mutations and in the end it had become too dangerous to continue the connection.
Apart from the one incident with the Teknoguild expedition, the Druid and his followers seemed to have disappeared. Sometimes that absence made me uneasy. Like Alexi and Madam Vega, Henry Druid had wanted power in the form of Beforetime weapons. What if he were to discover the machines that could set off the Great White again?
I choked off that train of thought. The expedition we propose will not be to Blackland fringes.'
Rushton looked puzzled. Then I don't see any difficulty. Teknoguild expeditions were banned because they never want to go anywhere but the fringes. But that still doesn't explain your interest. I would be surprised to find you had any aim in common with the Teknoguild.'
It was true I had often opposed their interests. Of all guilds their abilities were hardest to define, being little more than a vague empathy for inanimate things, a slight power to move things by will alone, and a passionate interest in the past. Unlike the other guilds, the Teknoguild was based outside Obernewtyn's walls in the network of caves discovered and used by Alexi and Ariel, who had assisted him in his experiments. They were believed to be the remains of a Beforetime establishment and had contained a number of machines. I had not been there since Alexi had tortured me using the Zebkrahn machine to force me to use my powers to locate an Oldtime weapon cache.
Pavo's request to come to the cave network that morning had been unexpected and unnerving. In the end I had gone, as much to lay my old fears to rest, as my respect for Pavo, who was more concerned with understanding Oldtimers than unearthing their mechanical secrets.
Also, I had been curious.
Walking back into the cave had been a disturbing experience. The past had seemed to lie tangibly beneath the present. The entrance to the cave network had been littered with boxes and sacks of Beforetime papers, books and other relics unearthed in previous expeditions. The passage had been well lit by candles set in sconces at regular intervals. There was no sign of the hissing green candles Alexi had favoured, yet I had seemed to smell their sickly sweet odour.
Coming from the sloping passage with its smooth walls into the main cave, I had been forced to stifle a gasp, having forgotten how big it all was, and how bright the Beforetime sphere of light which lit the area. High up in the shadows, stalactites hung poised like spears. Yet it was also very different than I remembered. Woven rugs and thick mats softened cold floors, and the walls were almost covered with paper, scrawled with lists and notes and diagrams. Tables and chairs were occupied by busy teknoguilders who barely registered my entrance.
Only the Zebkrahn machine had looked the same, though I knew it could no longer be used to coerce and torture, having long since been modified. Now it served as nothing more than an enhancer, enabling farseekers to double their normal range limit. Even so, my skin had risen to gooseflesh at the sight of it.
'Pavo asked me to come to the Teknoguild cave network,' I began bluntly.
Pavo gave a dry cough and rose. 'It might be better if I explain, Guildmistress,' he offered diffidently. As in the cave that morning, I was struck anew by his pallor.
'I did not know Elspeth would raise this matter today, and so I have not brought my notes, therefore you will have to take my word on some matters. A while back we uncovered evidence of an enormous book storage, which we believe is untouched since the Beforetime. However, because of the ban, we set this matter reluctantly aside. Last week, we succeeded in getting the Zebkrahn machine to penetrate the blocking static over tainted ground.' He paused to remind everyone that, previously, the machine, like farseekers, had been unable to project across or through tainted ground or Blackland wastes.
The machine is now able to monitor areas previously out of reach to us, even to farseekers as strong as Elspeth, whose range is normally better than that of the machine,' Pavo said. 'It was necessary for Elspeth to see the machine, not to admire the new modification, but so that she could see what it revealed.' Pavo looked at me, and all eyes swung expectantly my way.
I said obligingly, 'The Zebkrahn was registering a Talent at its outermost limit.'
'But . . . that's impossible. Th' machine has to be focused through a farseeker,' Matthew objected.
Pavo shook his head eagerly. 'Only in the case of ordinary or weak Talents. That is to say in most cases. But the Zekbrahn would need no farseeker focusing to register Elspeth.'
'But . . . that means this Talent mun be as strong as Elspeth . . .' Matthew said.
'Perhaps stronger,' Pavo corrected gently.
'Such a Talent would be worth rescuing,' Gevan of the coercers interjected.
'The two, the new Talent and the book storage Pavo told you about, are in the same region, and since it is so far away, we thought of a joint expedition,' I said.
There was a buzz of excited talk, but Rushton ignored it. 'So far . . .?' he enquired coldly. 'Exactly how far?'
My mouth felt suddenly dry. 'Somewhere between Aborium and Murmroth.'
There was silence, then someone sighed heavily. Aborium was on the other side of the Land, a coastal town. The only way to get there was to travel the main coast road, bypassing soldierguard camps and all the main towns, including Sutrium.
Rushton's face was pale with anger, realizing his brief words to me before the Guildmerge had prompted me to propose the expedition. He saw, as I had, that he could not dismiss my proposal since he meant to propose his own equally dangerous expedition.
That would mean travelling through Sutrium,' Roland said brusquely. 'A crazy dangerous idea. Our false certificates would not deceive the soldierguards for a moment.'
Pavo coughed again. 'It is not necessary to journey through Sutrium, or to travel on the main road. We have devised a route which will avoid both.' He pulled one of the maps on the table towards him and spread it out. 'I have a better map, but . . .' He pointed to the red circle denoting Obernewtyn. 'The expedition would travel out of Obernewtyn and down the main road, but would turn off to cut directly across the White Valley and through an Olden pass between Tor and Aran Craggie in the lower mountain ranges, and down to the Lowlands. From there, it would be an easy trip across the Ford of Rangorn, and down to the coast.'
Rushton examined the route. 'You are sure this pass exists? I have never heard of it.'
The teknoguilder stood self-consciously, nodded, then sat down. Someone laughed, easing the tension in the chamber.
'T'would mean winterin' outside maybe, if an expedition were to leave at once,' Matthew said tentatively.
'It would be best to act at once. Surely the gain is worthy of some risk,' Pavo said anxiously. 'Think of what we might learn from an untouched collection of Beforetime books, and who knows what Talent this Misfit will bring to us.'
Rushton nodded for us to resume our seats, his expression inscrutable. His eyes swept the assembled faces.
'Well,' he said at last, 'I called this Guildmerge for a particular reason, but Guildmistress Elspeth has preempted me. I, too, meant to propose an expedition.
'While in the high country these last few days, I heard rumours of men asking questions about Obernewtyn. Strangers, perh
aps Councilmen, perhaps not. They were asking questions about the damage caused by the firestorm, wanting to speak to anyone who had actually seen Obernewtyn since the storm. This means the Council may know I lied about the storm. If so, we will be investigated, probably after the next Thaw.'
There was a muffled howl of dismay.
'Or,' Rushton went on, 'it may mean nothing. The problem is that we have no idea what the Council knows.
'Up until now we have striven to avoid any contact with the Council, to hide and grow in strength, until we were powerful enough to confront them. We are not yet strong enough for the final battle, or any sort of open confrontation, but it is time we moved on to the next stage of our plans.
'I called this meeting to propose an expedition to Sutrium, with the aim of finding out if we are in danger and if the Council has any real knowledge of our existence. We can no longer hide in the dark, shivering. We must look, in the next year, to establishing a safe house in the Lowlands, preferably right in Sutrium.'
'What is a safe house?' Miryum asked.
'The safe house will form the nexus of our inner defence. It means we can move with more confidence among the Lowlanders. Most important, it means we will be in a better position to know what the Council is up to.'
'What if someone is caught and . . . tortured into giving up the safe house location or, worse, to tell the truth about us and Obernewtyn?' Matthew asked. A few nodded fearfully at this.
'Don't you understand that we are no safer hiding up here?' Rushton said urgently. 'Even if the rumours are just gossip, the soldierguards will come to hear of it, especially if they set a camp in the high country. The question is, do we wait until the Council descends on us before we act, or do we act now, while we can still move with relative freedom?'
A thoughtful silence greeted his words.
'Then, do you propose two expeditions to the Lowlands?' Roland asked.
The Farseekers Page 2
