The Seeker - Isobelle Carmody [100]
I was taken aback at his reaction. I understood his reluctance to risk a guildleader, but to offer himself as a replacement was senseless. Even he must see he was more important to Obernewtyn than I.
Ceirwan, along with two other farseekers, was to run the Farseeker guild in my absence, since Matthew had also been appointed to the expedition. Unspoken was the knowledge that Ceirwan would become guildmaster if I failed to return.
Rounding out the final list were Pavo, Kella, and Louis Larkin, with the Coercer ward Domick as Rushton’s choice for our spy in Sutrium. The expedition was to be disguised as a gypsy troupe. The carts had been built by the Teknoguild.
The black horse snorted his loathing at the sight of the gypsy rig. He had appointed two older horses to draw the carts. “Finer horses will encourage robbers,” he sent in terse explanation.
“What about you?” I asked.
The horse pricked his ears forward. “They will not find me desirable,” he sent cryptically.
The night before we were to leave, Rushton came to my turret chamber, which had been his own room in his time as farm overseer. He had collected our false Normalcy Certificates. Written on old discolored parchment, they were good forgeries, but I hoped we would not need them.
“It’s done, then,” Rushton said. He stared into the fire. There was a drawn-out silence, and the fire crackled as if the lack of sound made it uneasy.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
“Are you afraid?” he asked unexpectedly. I had a sudden vivid memory of him asking me the same question in that room when it had been his.
This time, I nodded soberly. “It will be dangerous, despite bypassing Sutrium and the main ways.”
Rushton turned to face me, his green eyes troubled. “Don’t … risk too much for this Talent,” he said. “Whoever it is might not even want to join us. You … are perceptive, but you don’t always see what is in front of your eyes.”
I had the notion he had meant to say something else and shifted uncomfortably. I had never felt really at ease with him since the awkward intimacy of being forced into a mindbond with him two years earlier.
Rushton stood abruptly, shook his head, and walked across to open the window shutters, breathing deeply as if the air in the turret room were too thin. He turned, leaning back against the open window, his face in shadow. “You … are important to Obernewtyn. We can’t afford to lose a guildmistress. Even now it is not too late to change your mind.…”
I shook my head. “I want to go. Besides, I promised.”
“You belong here,” Rushton said sternly.
I wished he would come back into the room so I could see his face. There was an odd note in his voice that puzzled me.
“Have you been so unhappy here?” he asked.
I laughed. “I’ve never been more content in my life. But I am glad to go away for a while. It’s as if I’m too safe and comfortable—like an old house cat. As Maruman would put it, I’m being tamed by comfort.”
“And look at him,” Rushton said darkly. “Someday you will have to come out of your ivory tower.”
I shrugged, not understanding the reference. “Alad said Maruman is recovering, though he still sleeps.”
Rushton nodded. “He will miss you.”
Before I could answer, there was a knock at the door.
I was surprised to find Dameon and Maryon outside. Their eyes went beyond me to Rushton.
“What is it?” he asked brusquely.
“I have futuretold th’ expedition,” the Futuretell guildmistress announced in her soft highland accent.
“What have you seen?” Rushton demanded. “Will it be a success? Will those who travel return?”
I held my breath.
Maryon merely want on, looking grave and serene. “I have seen that th’ boy Jik mun travel with th’ expedition. If he does nowt go, many, perhaps all th’ rest, will nowt return.”
“Surely another, more experienced empath?” Rushton said.
Maryon shook her head. “The prediction deals specifically wi’ th’ boy, but it is unclear. I dinna see any direct action on his part. It is my belief that he matters in some