Leaving Zebulon's study took all of Thomas's willpower. He wanted to take at least twenty books with him, despite the fact that his backpack and pockets were full of potions, and he was close to tears as he yielded to necessity and left most of them behind. In the end, he took only two. The Pardatano, easily the most valuable book present, in the hope of getting it translated one day, and an atlas of the known world. It was patchy, with huge blank areas that had never been reliably explored, and it was a well known fact that rival mapmakers disagreed wildly in their rendering of even the most densely populated areas, but it was still better than nothing and if they were going to be doing a lot of travelling, he reasoned, it would help if they had some idea of the terrain they would be passing through.

     Now that they had Zebulon's permission to take anything they wanted, Diana's attitude to the others softened somewhat and she even offered to carry some of the little treasures they took a fancy to, reasoning that they might need the money during their quest. She made it quite clear, however, that their behaviour had better improve in the future, or else.

     The three wizards were fascinated by Shaun's new sword, and examined it closely. "Watch this," said Shaun. He propped the sword up between two piles of books so that the sharp edge faced upwards, and dropped a silk scarf he'd found onto it. The scarf fluttered down lazily until it touched the blade, whereupon it divided into two halves, one falling on either side. "See that?" said Shaun awestruck. "Now that's sharp!"

     The three wizards agreed that it was very impressive, although in truth they had seen this sort of thing before. Super sharpness was a common feature of magical swords, indeed, it was the main reason they were so sought after. Not only that, but it would remain sharp, no matter how much it was used. Magic swords never needed sharpening, or any other form of maintenance.

     They showed the two fighters the other sword they'd found in Zebulon's rooms, the one whose enchantment had never been completed. It was identical in appearance to Shaun's sword, although the trick with the scarf didn't work on it, and it didn't have quite the same feather lightness and manoeuvrability. It was still better than Matthew's old sword, however, and would last a lot longer, since even the fabulously hard ironwood, which could cut through bronze and had revolutionized warfare in the centuries before the discovery of steel, was still, basically, just wood and would eventually splinter and crack no matter how well it was cared and tended for. Matthew accepted it eagerly, therefore, and Thomas promised him that, when he was a world famous Arch Mage, he would give it an enchantment even better than the one on Shaun's sword. Matthew, laughing, said he would hold him to it.

     They returned to their camp for the night, and as they sat around their campfire eating another rich meal from Vantarestin's food stores they chatted to each other about all they'd seen and found. As the sky darkened, four small closely spaced comets were gradually revealed, grouped close together in the east, just above a bright orange star, low down on the horizon. The planet Lamon, the next planet in towards the yellow sun.

     While the others were talking, Shaun examined a small box he'd found in Rhanov's room. It was made from dark, richly veined wood with a couple of silver straps running around it decorated in leaf patterns and had a silver lock in the shape of a flower. He shook it and heard something rattling around inside, but it defied all his attempts to open it.

     "Give it here," said Matthew. He bent a bit of bronze wire into a zig zagging shape, inserted it into the lock and jiggled it about a bit. After a few minutes of frustrated effort, it clicked and the lid opened.

     "Thanks," said Shaun. He took out a silver leaflink chain, on the end of which dangled a silver locket, beautifully decorated to look like a walnut and exact in every detail. Opening it revealed a tiny but exquisite carving of a woman's head and shoulders in white marble, also beautifully made. Her hair was piled high on top of her head, large rings hung from her ears, and the top of an expensive looking dress could just be seen off her shoulders. Her lips were curled into an enigmatic smile, as though she knew something they didn't. It was perfect in every way, obviously the work of a brilliant artist, and on the inside of the cover were the words "From T to R with love."

     "It's beautiful," said Lirenna, looking at it over his shoulder. "I wonder who it is."

     "Rhanov was supposed to have had a mistress," said Thomas. "Maybe that's her. The ‘R' must be Rhanov. This is the sort of thing you carry around with you, though, so you can look at the face of your love while you’re apart, so what was it doing here, in his room? Did they break up or something?"

     "We'll probably never know," said Shaun. "Still, it ought to be worth a few silvers when we get to Ilandia."

     Some of the items they had found might just be magical, so Thomas read his reveal spell again, to make sure it hadn’t changed, while the others laid everything out on the grass. The spell made Shaun's sword glow with a flickering blue fire, confirming its magical nature, along with Mikos’s ring, worn by Lirenna. Their backpacks glowed from within as the magics within the potions, the scroll and the wizard's spellbooks were made visible. Even Diana's silver caroli flower, hanging by a chain from her neck, shone with a soft, white light, even though its magic was of an entirely different nature. Nothing else they'd found in Vantarestin reacted, though, so they put it aside in a separate saddlebag to be sold in the next big market they came to, all except the locket, which Diana held onto. "This woman might still be alive, maybe still living nearby, waiting for her lover to return. We ought to return it to her and tell her the circumstances under which we found it. She deserves to know how Rhanov died."

     Diana was a changed woman now that she finally had her holy mission. She rode a few feet ahead of the others, sitting bolt upright in the saddle, staring ahead with a gleam in her eye and an expression of indomitable purpose. Although she chatted quite happily with the others, she maintained a slight reserve and aloofness, as though she were concerned with more important things, beyond the ken of ordinary people. Shaun was relieved at this change, but still a little concerned by her attitude. She's too full of pride, he thought. It's not good for her. She needs to take herself and her religion a little less seriously or she could breed resentment in other people and end up getting badly hurt.

     That night, as they arrived back at the main road and made camp a few hundred yards from it as a precaution against passing thieves and highwaymen, he prayed to Caroli for the first time in months. Help her, he pleaded. Teach her to go a little easier on herself and other people. Show her that there's nothing wrong with developing a slightly more relaxed attitude to life. As he finished his prayer, a feeling of peace and understanding came over him, and he knew that the Goddess had heard.

     The next day, they arrived at a small town called Bindlefin and stopped for a bit of lunch in the local inn, the laughing troll. As they drank their bowls of meaty broth, they got into a conversation with a group of farmers who were sharing the same long table. They were intrigued by Jerry and Lirenna, since nomes and the shae folk were hardly ever seen in this part of the world, and they asked lots of questions about their homelands. They were happy to satisfy their curiosity, and while talking let it drop, seemingly casually, as they had agreed, that they were both wizards.

     "Wizards!" exclaimed the nearest burly, heavily muscled farmer, whose name was Hamwin. Thomas tensed up, ready to go to their defence if trouble broke out. Shaun and Matthew reached carefully for their new swords, ready to draw them, but they were worrying needlessly and relaxed as the farmers made no hostile move. "You don't say. We don't get a lot of wizards in these parts, do we lads?"

     "Not since old Zebulon left, no." said another, called Porkwell. "Other wizards used to avoid the area while he was here. You're the first to move in since he left."

     "We're not moving in, just passing through," said Jerry. "I've heard of this Zebulon, though. He sounds like quite a character, him and his friend Rhanov."

     "Aye, that he was," said Hamwin. "Things have really gone downhill here since they left. Used to be you never saw a snout or a goblin for years on end. They knew what old Zeb'd do to ‘em if he caught ‘em, you see. Since he left, though, a big tribe o’ snouts has set up camp a few miles north of ‘ere and they keep raiding the town."

     "Snouts?" asked Lirenna.

     "Shologs," explained the farmer. "The militia can't find them, and nor can them fancy Beltharan troops from Fort Battleaxe. They come out here to get ‘em, but the snouts just scatter into the woods and wait ‘til they're recalled. Old Zeb' would've just turned the whole pack of ‘em into white mice and left them for the grass snakes. Nope, not the same since he left."

     "Didn't Rhanov have a mistress?" asked Diana.

     "That's what they say," said Porkwell. "A fancy Rahmin noblewoman, some say. Others say she was the daughter of a rich Seatonian merchant. No-one really knows, I guess."

     "Old Burlock might know," said Hamwin. "Hey, Burlock!" The patron of the establishment, a fat, bearded man wearing a grease stained pinny, appeared from the kitchen and came over to glower down at them. "What is it now?" he demanded impatiently. "If it's another dead cockroach in the soup, just be grateful for the extra meat." The six travelers paled and looked down at their empty bowls, suddenly wondering what they'd eaten.

     "No, no, nothing like that," said Hamwin, waving a grimy, calloused hand dismissively. "What was the name of Rhanov's mistress, and where did she come from?"

     "Ah, you mean the lady Teena. A fine cultured woman she was, I remember, even though she only graced my humble establishment on the one occasion. I don't know what she were complaining about. Meat's meat so far's I'm concerned."

     "Where did she come from?" asked Diana.

     "Rahm, I think. I seem to remember someone telling me that she were the sister of a Rahmin rancher, and that Rhanov rescued her from a gang of outlaws. They'd kidnapped her and were holding her to ransom, but Rhanov killed them all single handed and carried her off back here. ‘Least that's what I heard."

     "The way I heard it," broke in another farmer sitting nearby, "she were the last living descendant of Drack Dragonslayer, and the only person in the world who knew the location of the dragon's hoard."

     "Don't talk rubbish," interrupted yet another farmer. "Everybody knows she was the cousin of the Prefect of Callinia who ran away because she hated her wicked stepmother who wanted to marry her to an ugly old judge."

     "No no," broke in someone else, "She was..." The argument went on with more and more of the tavern's customers joining in, but the six travelers stopped listening.

     "Why does everyone speak of her in the past tense?" asked Lirenna."

     "She were carried off by the plague about twelve years back," said Hamwin. "Rhanov was devastated and never really got over it. If it hadn't been for the help and support of Zebulon and that priest, Kamsey, I don't know what he'd have done."

     "I don't suppose anybody knows if she had a family?" asked Diana, "only we've got something that belongs to her."

     "She may have had a family," said Hamwin, "but as to their identity and location, well..." He indicated the crowd of farmers still arguing over her origins. Two of them were facing up to each other, shouting conflicting theories, and seemed close to coming to blows. "Take your pick," he said.

     "I take the point," said Diana. "Thank you, you've been very helpful." They paid for the meals and left, hoping to make another ten miles before nightfall. As they untied their mounts and saddled up, the sound of a chair being broken over someone's head came to them, along with a roar of rage and shouts of enthusiastic encouragement. They galloped out of town as fast as they could.

     "Well, that's that then," said Matthew. "We've got no chance of finding her family now. Looks like the locket's ours to keep."

     "Not so fast," said Diana. "Rahm was mentioned twice by two different people. That seems to suggest that she may well have come from there. When our mission is complete and we have the Sceptre, I will go there and try to find her family."

     "Rahm's a big place," said Thomas. "Almost as big as Ilandia. I don't fancy your chances much."

     "Nevertheless, I must try," said Diana. "The locket is rightfully theirs, and must be returned to them if at all possible."