He looked around at our transfixed faces, perplexed. 'I don't speak Outislander as well as I should. I know it sounds mad, that she wanted someone to go into a stone dragon. But that was what Revke seemed to be saying to me. I could be wrong.'

'No. I suspect you are exactly right. Go on,' I begged him.

'She finally ordered Kebal Rawbread given to the dragon. Revke said that when they unshackled him, the guards under-estimated the old warrior's strength and his hatred of the Pale Woman. The guards had hold of him and were dragging him toward the dragon, and he was fighting them all the way. Then suddenly he lunged in the other direction, toward the Pale Woman. He caught her by the wrists, and he was laughing and shouting that they'd go into the dragon together and rise in triumph for the Out Islands. That it was the only way to win. And then Rawbread dragged her toward the dragon, shrieking and kicking. And then . . .' He halted again. 'I'm just telling the tale as Revke told it to me. It makes no sense, but -'

'Go on!' Chade commanded him hoarsely.

'Rawbread walked backwards into the dragon. He sort of melted into it, and he held tight to the Pale Woman and dragged her in after him.'

'She went into the dragon?' I exclaimed.

'No. Not all the way. Rawbread disappeared into the dragon, and he was pulling her after, so her hands and her wrists went in. She was shrieking at her guards to help her, and finally two seized hold of her and pulled her back. But . . . but her hands were melted away. Gone into the dragon.'

The Prince had his hand clamped tight over his mouth. I found I was trembling. 'Is that all?' Chade asked. I wondered where he got his calm.

'Mostly. What was left of her hands was sort of burnt. Not bleeding, just charred away, Revke said. He said, she just stood there, looking at her stumps. The dragon was coming to life by then. When it started to move, it lifted its head too high, and big chunks of the ceiling came down. Revke said everyone ran, both from the falling ceiling and from the dragon. And that he was still hiding from the dragon when he suddenly got himself back.' Riddle halted suddenly, and then said with difficulty, 'I can't explain to you what it feels like. I was in my cell, back to the wall, trying to stay awake because if I slept the others would kill me. And then I glanced down and saw Hest dead on the floor. And suddenly I cared that he was dead, because he'd been my friend.' He shook his head and his voice went to a whisper. 'Then I remembered killing him.'

'It wasn't your fault,' the Prince said quietly.

'But I did it. It was me, I -'

I cut into his words before he could give any more thought to what he had done. 'And how did you get out?' I asked quietly.

Riddle seemed almost grateful for the question. 'Revke opened the door for us and led us out and through her palace. It's like a huge maze under the ice. We finally walked out of an opening that looked like a crack in an ice wall, right onto the glacier's flank. Once we were out, no one knew what to do next. The others knew of no other place on the island where we could seek shelter. But I could just glimpse the sea from where we were. I told them that if we made our way to the sea and followed the beach, we'd have to eventually come to this base camp, even if we walked clear round the island first. As it was, we were lucky. We chose the shorter route and arrived here even before you did.'

There was one last question, but he answered it before I spoke. 'You know how the wind blows at night, Tom. Drifting snow has probably covered all our tracks by now. Even if I wanted to, I don't think I could find my way back.' He took a deep breath, and then added reluctantly, 'Perhaps one of the Outislanders would be willing to try. But not me. Never. I don't ever want even to get close to that place again.'

'No one will ask you to,' Chade assured him, and he was right. I left it at that.

Dawn was breaking when I returned to Burrich and Swift. Swift slept beside Burrich's body. I noticed that he had moved, that one of his hands now lay outside his blankets. In tucking it in again, I discovered that Burrich clutched a wooden earring in his hand. I recognized it; the Fool had carved it, and I knew that inside it I would find the slave's freedom earring that Burrich's grandmother had won at such hardship to herself. That he had found the strength to take it off told me how important it was to him. I thought I knew his intentions for it.

Dutiful had released the homing pigeon that would fly back to Zylig to let the Hetgurd know that our quest was over. Nonetheless, it would take some days for the boats to reach us; in the meanwhile, we faced the prospect of short rations spread out over a larger party. It was not a pleasant thing to contemplate, yet I think most of us shrugged it off after all we had been through.

I found a quiet time with Swift, sitting beside the ever-dwindling Burrich. I told him the tale of the earring while I struggled to get it out of its wooden enclosure. In the end, the Fool's handiwork proved too sophisticated for me. I had to bteak it to open it. Within lay the earring, shining as blue and silver as when Patience had first presented it to me. As she had that day, I used the pin of it to pierce Swift's ear so he could wear it. I was slightly kinder to him than she had been to me; we numbed his earlobe with snow before I thrust the pin through it. 'You wear this always,' I told the boy. 'And you remember your father. As he was.'

'I will,' Swift replied quietly. He touched it with cautious fingers; well did I remember its weight swinging from my raw earlobe. Then he wiped his bloody fingertips on his trouser leg and said, 'I'm sorry I used it, now. If I still had it, I'd give it to you.'

'What/'

'The arrow that Lord Golden gave me. I thought it was ugly when he gave it to me, but I took it to be polite. Then, when all the others bounced off the dragon, the grey one struck and sank. I never saw anything like that before.'

'I doubt that anyone ever has,' I replied.

'Maybe he had. He said it was an ugly bit of wood, but that it might still serve me well in time of need. He said he was a Prophet, that night. Do you think he knew the grey arrow would kill the dragon?'

I managed a smile. 'Even when he was alive, I never knew when he truly knew something before it happened and when he was just cleverly reconstructing his words to make it seem that he did. In this case, however, he seems to have been right.'

'Yes. But did you see my father? Did you see what he did? He dropped that dragon in his tracks. Web says he'd never felt strength like that before, strength to repel a dragon.' He looked at me, challenging me to forbid it to him as he added, 'He says that strength like that sometimes runs in Old Blood families. That perhaps I'll inherit it, if I use my magic with discipline and judgment.'

I reached to cup the boy's jaw, the earring cold against my palm. 'Let's hope you do. This world needs strength such as that.'

Longwick thrust his head inside our shelter. 'Prince Dutiful has need of you, Tom,' he apologized.

'I'll be right there,' I assured him, and then, to Swift, 'You don't mind?'

'Go. There's nothing either of us can do here save keep watch.'

'I'll be back,' I promised, and then stepped from the tent to follow Longwick through our camp.

The Prince's tent was crowded. He, Chade and Thick were there, with Peottre, Oerttre, Kossi and the Narcheska. Thick's lip was thrust out and I sensed his upset. The Narcheska sat on the floor, a blanket clasped around her shoulders and her back to me. I made my courtesies to all and then waited.

The Prince spoke. 'We are having a bit of a problem with the Narcheska's tattoos. She would like them removed, but they haven't yielded to Thick's Skill. Chade thought that, as you'd dealt with your own scars, perhaps you might be able to help.'