Book One – Chapter 17

He got it wrong.

They had come from the south-east! Through Noratellems, up the coastal trail. Yu remembered now — Fallem had said they had crossed from the eastern Midlands, then travelled north. Which meant they had not taken the Snowtrail. Not recently. Maybe not in months.

Yu raised a wing to shield his face against the storm and looked up at Imbiad.

Fallem had explained all that during one of their first nights on the trail, while helping Yu fix his tent. As hard as Yu tried, he could not recall what Imbiad had been doing at the time — just that he had not been nearby. Not within earshot.

“Uhm, Imbiad … Has this happened before?” he asked. “I mean, is it normal? For witches to come here? Did you meet a witch last time you were here?”

“No,” said Imbiad.

“But you come here often, right? As escorts, I mean? Do you meet many witches on the trail?”

“I cannot answer that. I have not travelled this stretch of the Snowtrail in over two years,” Imbiad replied, still facing the night snows.

“But how did you get to Undertellems, then?”

“Before we met you, some of us came from Noratellems.”

“Oh, right. Of course. Thanks.”

It tracked. That matched what Fallem had told him, a month back. They had come from the far south of Undertellems, crossing the rivers that formed the natural boundary between the Midlands and the Northlands. It was the only open route east of the Albweiss. The only other somewhat established passage into the Northlands led through the far western Moors. Everything in between was masses of mountain.

So no, Imbiad, Harrow, and the rest could not have been at the guild recently. Maybe their last visit had simply been so long ago that they had not noticed any changes. Different staff, new procedures; Imbiad had no reason to question anything, not after two years.