The next few weeks passed like a dream.

     The two adults didn't know how long they would be away, settling Derrin into the University, but to be on the safe side they were planning for an absence of several weeks and so had a lot of loose ends to tie up and preparations to make. Thomas wrote a letter to the University's enrolment secretary, which was carried out of the valley by one of the Waykeepers. The letter was addressed to the wizard Lamaniss, a wizard they'd met briefly during the Fourth Shadowwar and who was now living in the rebuilt outer circle of Fort Battleaxe. It came with a short note asking him to teleport it to Lexandria valley, but a reply came back a couple of weeks later from a member of Lamaniss’s household telling them that the wizard was out of the city at the moment. The letter would be forwarded to another wizard in Tatria, who would teleport it on to its destination. The letter added that enrolment was only a formality in any case, and that hopeful applicants who just turned up and who measured up to the University's standards were simply slotted in to the beginners' class, no matter what time of year they arrived, no matter whether or not they'd sent notice of their coming. The letter excited Thomas and Lirenna considerably, and convinced them that everything was going according to plan.

     A couple of days later another letter arrived, delivered by one of the Queen's own messengers and carrying the Royal Seal. The messenger, arriving on the back of one of the snow white mares from the Queen's own stables, brought a crowd of neighbours with him, all burning with curiosity to know how her Majesty had responded to the wizards' request, and they gathered around impatiently as Thomas broke the seal and unrolled the fine, white paper with trembling fingers. Lirenna pressed up against him and they read the letter together, and the shriek of delight she uttered was all the answer the crowd needed. The shouting and cheering was heard all the way to the town below, and the messenger returned to the palace brushing crumbs of blackberry pie from his immaculately crisp and clean uniform.

     The remaining preparations took just a few days to complete. The two wizards finished a few uncompleted tasks, tying up loose ends and making sure they weren't leaving any unsatisfied customers behind them. They packed up some changes of clothing, a good supply of spell components and their traveling spellbooks; small books about the size of a pocket diary that contained copies of all their favourite, most frequently used spells. The elaborate, highly stylised pictograms of the magical writing were small and difficult to read ( although not as difficult as they'd been to write!), and both wizards preferred to use their ordinary, full sized spellbooks whenever possible, but the huge, heavy tomes were almost impossible to carry around whereas the traveling spellbooks, each with its own protective leather case, fitted easily into a pocket. Oh well, thought Thomas as he carefully turned the delicate, almost transparently thin pages and squinted at the tiny writing. It'll only be for a few days. A couple of weeks at most. Just long enough to get him settled in.

     That done, it only remained to find someone to look after the house while they were away. Feed the animals, including a fat and docile unicorn whose stump of a horn was continually trimmed as it grew to make a powder for their magical potions. Weed the herb garden in which grew plants the neighbours had been warned not to touch (a bottle of antidote sat next to the window in the kitchen. There were always people who'd prod and poke the highly poisonous plants anyway. Particularly children.) and perhaps run a duster around the shelves every now and then.

     Mistress Gammon promised she'd see to it, and that she'd send a couple of her daughters over to fill in on the days she couldn't spare the time. In Haven, people popped into each others houses all the time and were trusted to treat the place as they would their own homes. The wizards' house was unusual in that it had a door that could be locked, the door to their magical laboratory, and even that was for the protection of visitors, not because they were worried about anything being taken. That door wasn't just locked, though. It was also sealed closed with magic spells so that any non-wizard who wanted to enter would have to break a hole in the wall.

     Finally, everything was done and they were ready to leave. They put their luggage, consisting of two small cases and a hat box, in the back of the carriage that came to their door an hour after sunrise and climbed inside for the two hour journey to Garby, the small village that stood close to the valley's entrance. The inhabitants of Garby could, theoretically, just walk out of the valley and into the outside world during a brief afterdinner stroll, but the knowledge of the dangers of discovery were so firmly drilled into them that none of them would even think of doing so, not even the most adventurous children.

     This was also the town in which most of the valley's wizards lived, and it was one of them, a tall, stately looking gentleman with a narrow face and greying temples, who was there to meet them. Thomas felt himself tensing up nervously at the sight of him as the carriage came clattering to a stop beside the way station. It wasn't that the wizard was in any way a bad man. Thomas had met him before and knew him to be as kind and courteous as you could wish a man to be. This was the man who'd be putting them into their hypnotic trances for the journey out of Haven, though, and Thomas was still terrified by the idea.

     The idea of being totally helpless, of being completely at the hypnotist's mercy, scared him to bits, even though the rational part of him knew that he had little cause for worry. He'd been through it before, after all, during his trip to Haven with his brand new wife. Lirenna had been through it twice before, and neither of them, upon being roused from their trances, had had any reason to suspect that their bodies had been in any way interfered with while they'd been in a state of unconscious obedience. The Waykeepers, in whose hands they would be in, were trusted more than any other people in Haven, and Thomas saw that trust reflected on Lirenna's face now as she descended gracefully from the carriage to greet the wizard. She wasn't at all worried about putting her own, and Derrin's, lives and bodies in the hands of the Waykeepers, or perhaps the thought that her trust might be misplaced had simply never occurred to her. After all, these were her countrymen. They were citizens of Haven just as she was, and maybe that fact alone was enough to overcome any doubts she might otherwise have had.

     Two more Waykeepers were emerging from the way station as he climbed from the carriage to stand beside his wife and his son, and his fears were heightened when he saw how impressed they were by the demi shae's more than human beauty. They were younger, in their late twenties or early thirties. Handsome and athletic and dressed in rich, fine clothes. The kind of clothes that men wear to impress women. Trusted with the location of Haven they might be, thought the wizard nervously, but could they be trusted with the virtue of a beautiful woman when that woman would obey any command given to her? Or perhaps they preferred little boys...

     Thomas got a hold on himself angrily. He was letting his fears run away with him and very probably doing the Waykeepers a grave injustice. After all, other people entered and left Haven on occasion. Many of them were beautiful women or men with wives and daughters, and in all his time in the valley he'd never heard anyone cast any doubt upon the conduct of the Waykeepers. But that could be because no-one ever found out, his mind insisted upon replying. And if they were careful, no-one ever would find out.

     He put the suspicions out of his head with an effort and greeted the Waykeepers as calmly and amiably as he could. "This is Lomar and Perrin," said the wizard, Kennara, introducing the other two Waykeepers. "These are the gentlemen who'll be taking you to Atterdale, in the Overgreen Forest. Once there, they'll rouse you from your trances and you'll make the rest of your journey by yourselves."

     "You won't be coming with us?" asked Thomas, and he cursed the note of apprehension that crept into his voice despite his best effort to stop it. The more people there were with them, the less chance that one of them would be tempted to betray the trust that had been placed in him. There was a gleam in the eyes of the younger Waykeepers as they looked at Lirenna. A look that disturbed him a great deal and, try as he might, he couldn't rid himself of a nightmare image of himself sitting on the carriage seat, staring blankly ahead, oblivious to everything going on around him while, outside, his wife and child were obeying instructions they would never remember receiving...

     "I can see you're a little nervous about the entrancement," said Kennara with an amused smile that jolted Thomas back to the here and now with a guilty start. "Don't worry, it's a common reaction. Many people are a little apprehensive about surrendering their free will, even for just a few days, and we wouldn't do it at all if the need for it weren't so great. I can assure you, however, that in all the centuries that we've been doing this, no-one has ever failed to come out of their trances safely when they arrived at their destination. The entrancement spell is absolutely safe."

     I'm sure it is," replied Thomas, forcing a smile. “But what about the journey through the forest itself? We've been through the forest before and it’s dangerous. Will the two of you be able to defend us if… if anything happens?”

     “We're both competent wizards,” said Lomar, smiling reassuringly. “We can defend ourselves, and you, against anything we’re likely to meet.”

     “We've never run across anything we couldn't handle,” added Perrin. “We'll be fine, I assure you.”

     His words just left Thomas even more nervous, though. He remembered having the same fears twenty years before, when they'd been tranced for their journey into Haven, and knew he'd have them again when the time came for them to return, and every time after that whenever they took their son to or from Lexandria, twice a year for the next few years. A cold sweat broke out all over his body.

     The Waykeepers invited them into the waystation for a bite to eat before they left, and Thomas questioned the two younger men at length in an attempt to get an idea of their characters. They seemed nice enough, and he had no doubt that he'd have taken an instant liking to them under almost any other circumstances, but when one of them reached out a hand to touch his arm, an entirely natural and spontaneous gesture that formed an integral part of the tale he was telling, Thomas snatched it back as though he'd been burned.

     "Sorry," he apologised, seeing the hurt look on the man's face. "Just a little nervous at the moment, that's all."

     The Waykeeper relaxed, nodding his understanding, and continued with the story.