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.Instead she said that Vinegar Tom was gone.That which had guarded the path for centuries had deserted its post.And now it came out that thecolt-pixie had not been seen for some time either, or the domestic wights of Tana, or the silkies, or anyothers of seelie ilk."Is it possible the wights have left Tamhania?" Alys of Roxburgh asked.No one could answer her.Over the ocean, thunder rumbled.Horses screamed and goblets toppled, spilling their blood-red wineacross the linen battle-plain of Tana's dinner-table."These quakes." said the Duchess.She did not finish her sentence."Should we not leave here?" Rohain said."I fear danger walks the isle.""I, too, am troubled," nodded the Bard."Yet it is his Imperial Majesty's command that we remain," murmured Alys."A good soldier neverPage 210 disobeys orders.Neither should we.""'Tis the sea," said the Seneschal overheartily."'Tis choppy these days.If indeed it floats, the islandmoves roughly over the waves.We're in for another storm, by the sound of it."The words fell from his lips like empty husks, and he knew it.They sat silent again.Still, no one raised a knife.The salt cellar rolled lazily across the table, leaving asilver trail; an arc, a slice of moon, a fragmented sickle. «» «» «» No mermaid's cry gave warning of what happened next.Thunder's iron barrel rolled across the firmament, but there were no thunderclouds.The seas lurched.Even the warm waters of the sheltered harbor rose in a brisk, pointy dance, but there was no storm notin the way storms are usually known.For days this went on, and then the ground picked itself up andshook out its mantle.Many villagers rushed outdoors in fright.It became impossible to walk steadily.Windows and dishes broke.At the Hall of Tana, paintings fell from the walls, and in the stables the smallbells rang on the bridles hanging from their hooks.They jingled, those little bells, and then fell silent as the ground stood still again.Next morning, dawn didnot come.Beyond its normal bounds, night stretched out like a long black animal."Look at the cloud!" cried Viviana, pointing.The white wreath that continually lurked upon the mountaintop had now darkened to a wrathful gray.Ithad grown taller, becoming a column.From the top it forked, like the spreading branches of a gigantic,malevolent tree, billowing, blocking sunlight.Beneath its shadow, the mountainsides sloped as green andlush as always, but particles of sand and dirt moved in the tenebrous air, and flecks like black rain orfeathers floated tiny pieces of ash.This dirty wind irritated the eyes, made breathing difficult.The smellof rottenness had increased a hundredfold, and a stink of putrid cabbage invaded everything.To keepout the dust and stench, the islanders wedged shut their doors and windows.They masked their faces."Make ready the sea-vessels," said the Bard."Tell the villagers to prepare to leave."But Avenel said, "This is the Royal Isle! Naught can harm us here.Besides, most of the villagers refuseto even consider abandoning their homes."The peculiar storm amplified.Lightning flickered, phosphorescent green, but only within the massivepillar that stood up from the mountain, supporting the sky's congestion.On the island, wells dried up.New ones opened.Streams altered their courses as tremors shook the island to its most profoundfootings.In the village, the mayor called a meeting. «» «» «» Thorn had told Rohain: " Do not leave the island.Wait for me." She must do as he had bidden.Yet nolonger was Tamhania the safe haven it had been when he had spoken those words.Rohain's own handhad lit the candle in the Light-Tower, opening the island to the bringers of doom just as, somehow, shehad also led death and destruction to Isse Tower.Page 211 And once he had asked, " Why should Huon hunt at thy heels?" The question confounded her,haunted her.Recent events once again brought it to the forefront.The real facts must be confronted.No matter how she tried to deny it, something sought her.Now thatshe was willing to face the truth, it blazed like words written in fire.It seemed incredible she could haveoverlooked anything so obvious.Never had Scalzo's scoundrels sought her, never had Korguth'smercenaries plagued her.All the time there had been one enemy one other enemy with unseelie forcesunder its sway an enemy far more terrible than any small-time brigand or charlatan of a wizard.In Gilvaris Tarv, on the day she had saved the seelie waterhorse from enslavement in the marketplace,she had seen a face.Memory now recalled that face in detail.Curious, it had been.In fact, "eldritch" wasthe word that most described it, and "malevolent." Some unseelie thing in the marketplace had spied herat the very instant her taltry fell back, revealing her extraordinary sun-colored hair.By her hair, perhaps,the creature had recognized her.Perhaps it had known who she had been in her shadowed past.Perhaps, in that past, she had been hunted but the hunters were thrown off her trail when she lost herface and her voice.Likely, the creature had gone from the marketplace and told of her whereabouts toher true enemy, the Antlered One.It had been after the market-day that suspicious-looking creatures hadbegun to watch Ethlinn's house.In a stroke of what turned out to be fortune, Rohain had been mistakenlyabducted with Muirne.For a time, while they were incarcerated in the gilf- house ,her whereabouts hadpassed out of Huon's knowledge.Rohain pondered on subsequent events.Had the Antlered One got wind of her as she rode with thewagons along the Road to Caermelor? Had he sent the Dando Dogs after the caravan, resulting in theloss of so many lives?She had eluded him, only to end up at Court where her Talith ancestry was unmasked by Dianella andSargoth.The wizard had betrayed her to some unseelie minion of the Antlered One, himself not knowingthe full extent of what he did, merely wanting her out of the way so that Dianella's path to the thronewould be clear.Doubtless, Sargoth had long been allied with the powers of wickedness.He might haveknown Huon sought for a Talith damsel, and waited until she was out of Caermelor to betray her.When Sargoth's tidings reached the Hunter, Isse Tower was attacked.Once again Rohain escaped, butnow that she had regained both face and voice, Huon knew her.For whatever reason, he had traced herto the haven of Tamhania and knocked on the door.She, in her folly, had opened it and let his foulcreatures enter.Why he hunted at her heels, she had forgotten.He had not." Let us speak no more of the past
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