The Seeker - Isobelle Carmody [95]
“What is it, Louis?” I asked resignedly. Sometimes he reminded me of Maruman at his most difficult.
“No need to snap my head off,” Louis said smugly. “T’were a bit of gossip I heard I thought might interest ye.”
Louis was a remarkable source of odd bits of information. He hardly ever left Obernewtyn, but he always seemed to know what was going on in the highlands. And he knew everything that went on at Obernewtyn.
“I heard ye were wonderin’ if th’ Druid has left th’ high country,” Louis said, looking over his shoulder as if he thought someone might be listening. I was never sure how much of his eccentric behavior was affected and how much was genuine.
“Have you heard anything?” I asked.
He nodded. “Th’ word is that th’ Druid has nowt left th’ high country. No one has seen a sign of his people in many a long day, but now an’ then there are disappearances.”
“That could be our fault,” Matthew said. “Them missin’ could be Misfits we rescue, despite th’ trouble we gan to to make the disappearances seem natural.”
“Ye’d be right, of course! It could nowt be that th’ Druid is doin’ his own recruitin’. ’Tis nowt possible the disappearances are the reason th’ Council takes an interest in th’ high country!” Louis huffed sarcastically.
“But if the Druid is taking people, where is he? An why haven’t we been able to locate his camp in farseeking searches?” I asked.
The outrage on the old man’s face melted into genuine puzzlement. “ ’Tis strange enow. I would have said th’ Druid had gone. But if he’s nowt away from th’ White Valley, yer expedition route mun be more dangerous than goin’ th’ main way.”
“Have you mentioned this to Rushton?” I asked.
Louis gave me a look of sly entreaty. “Fact is, I only just heard it. Ought to tell th’ master, but I’ve a yen to go on this expedition. I’d like to see th’ lowlands once afore I die,” he added. “Ye could put in a word for me.”
“Ridiculous,” Matthew said. “Ye’ll live forever, ye ol’ fake!”
“I will speak to Rushton,” I said.
Louis’s eyes were fixed on my face, and whatever he saw there made him smile sourly. “Ye do that,” he said.
After he had gone, Matthew looked at me incredulously. “Why did ye let him bluff ye? Rushton’ll nivver agree!”
“Because if Rushton heard this, he would be bound to cancel the expedition or at least delay it. And Louis knows it. Besides, he might …”
“What th’ devil?” Matthew muttered, hearing a wild yell from the courtyard behind us.
Zarak and Lina of the Beastspeaking guild ran up to us. Both were white-faced.
“Guildmistress, we have to talk to you!” Lina gasped.
“Well?” I snapped, in no mood for their antics. Then Zarak looked up, his eyes miserable and frightened, and suddenly I was filled with apprehension. “What is it?”
Lina answered, “We were sitting in the kitchen garden, and Zarak was …” She trailed off and glared at Zarak, who was now staring at his feet. I restrained an urge to shake him.
He burst out, “I know I’m not supposed to farseek, Guildmistress, but you don’t know what it’s like—being able to make your mind fly and not being allowed to do it. I only meant to go a little way, but it felt so wonderful. Then I bumped into someone. A stranger!”
I stared at him coldly. “You know even farseeker novices do not farseek beyond the mountains.” He nodded. “Do you know why we have this rule?” He nodded again. “Tell me,” I snapped.
“Because they might bump into a wild Talent … and not be able to shield well enough to stop them … tracing back to Obernewtyn,” he mumbled. “But I swear it was someone as untrained as I am. He couldn’t have traced me. He thought I was an evil spirit.”
I felt a sneaking sympathy for Zarak, who was in the wrong guild because his father was a beastspeaker. But I showed none of these thoughts on my face. Zarak had to learn to curb his curiosity, for all our sakes.
“Then since you know the rules, it is not a matter of ignorance but of deliberate disobedience,” I said coldly. Zarak hung his head, flushing. “You will go at once to Javo and tell him you will be available for