‘What a marvellous sunstone,’ he said to Angwen, who was watching him with some amusement. She raised her eyebrows in surprise. ‘Sunstone,’ she said appreciatively. ‘What a nice name. I’m afraid we call them lightrocks, even though we use them as much for heating as lighting. I gather you use them too.’
Farnor nodded. ‘Yes, but all ours are very old now, and it’s difficult to find new ones. We have to look after them very carefully. And we’ve none as good as that. It’s so bright. Where do you get them from?’
Angwen smiled. ‘From the mountains up north. Anyone who’s travelling up there for any reason usually brings some back. And there’s always plenty at the Solstice Mart. I’ll give you some when you leave tomorrow,’ she said. ‘And a striker.’
Guiltily, Farnor raised his hands to refuse the offer, but Angwen shook her head. ‘It’ll be a gift to your people from my people, Farnor. You can’t refuse a gift of light, can you?’
Taken aback by this impulsive gesture, Farnor did not know what to say. Sunstones were precious in the valley and much cherished by their owners. He was just composing a suitable sentence of thanks when Derwyn returned. He looked harassed.
‘What’s the matter?’ Angwen asked quietly, wrap-ping her arm around him.
Derwyn cast a glance at Farnor but spoke to his wife. ‘EmRan’s being particularly troublesome,’ he said. ‘More than I thought he would be.’ He pulled a rueful face. ‘And I’m afraid it didn’t help that Farnor threat-ened him with a knife.’
Angwen grimaced slightly and nodded.
Farnor felt suddenly trapped. Though no explana-tion was asked for, he blustered one out. ‘He barged into Bildar’s like a mad bull. I thought he was someone else. Bildar and Edrien saw what happened. They’ll tell you. He frightened them, too.’
‘Don’t upset yourself, Farnor,’ Derwyn said, kissing Angwen and unwinding her arm from about him. ‘It’s just an unfortunate thing to have happened. And EmRan’s thrashing about and clouding the issues that we really need to be discussing.’
‘I can leave now, on my own, if you wish,’ Farnor offered.
Derwyn shook his head hastily. ‘No, no,’ he said. ‘That will make things far worse. With all the confusion there is at the moment, that might even bring the hunt down on your head, and Forest knows what the consequences of that would be.’ He sat down and looked up at Farnor, his face unhappy. ‘I didn’t want to get you involved in this, but drawing a weapon against another is a serious matter amongst us, Farnor. From what I’ve heard from Bildar and Edrien I’m satisfied that your behaviour was reasonable, and that it was EmRan who was in the wrong. But now it’s been raised publicly…’ He paused uncomfortably for a moment. ‘I can’t force you, but I think it would be better for all of us if you could come with me to the Congress tonight and say why you did what you did. And tell them whatever else you feel you can.’
Farnor looked at Angwen, alarmed at this unex-pected turn of events. She nodded slightly, and laid her hand on her heart significantly. ‘Everyone speaks freely and without fear of reproach in the Congress. Farnor. Go and listen to them. Understand their fear. And then speak to them so that they’ll understand yours.’
‘And if they don’t understand?’ he asked.
Neither Derwyn nor Angwen replied.
Chapter 8
As Farnor followed Derwyn along the ways that led to the Congress Hall, sunstones hung along the walkways and through the branches were bursting silently into life. Gradually, the great tree canopy was turned into a flickering, many-greened cavern by the myriad lights sweeping and twisting through it in long, glittering skeins. It was a sight that might have held Farnor spellbound had he noticed it, but he was too preoccu-pied with safely negotiating the walkways and ladders along which Derwyn was leading him; that, and the leaden, almost desperate, feeling inside him about what was going to happen.
Although Derwyn had tried to hide his concern about the Congress, he had been unable to keep it from his eyes and, unsettling Farnor even further, had been the reference to him bringing the hunt down on himself if he decided to leave immediately. He tried not to dwell on the images that this presented but it was all far from reassuring. Conflicting thoughts harried him. He had been well treated – very well treated, in fact, and the worst that he had had to suffer was some blatant curiosity. But EmRan’s violent intrusion at Bildar’s lurked in his mind like a menacing shadow. For a terrifying moment he had truly thought that it was Nilsson hulking there in the doorway, pursuing him even into the depths of the Forest. But how would all these people see it?
Surely Bildar and Edrien would speak for him; ex-plain what had happened? They too had been badly frightened. If he had somehow broken one of their laws, then it had been through ignorance, and no harm had been done. Then regrets began to mingle angrily with his circling justifications; he should have left as soon as he was able, he shouldn’t have stayed to eat, he should have asked for his horse and pack as soon as he had wakened this morning.
‘Not far now.’ Derwyn’s voice brought him sharply back to the present. For the first time he became aware of the noise. All around him was the clatter of feet on the swaying walkways and the clamour of voices. And as the voices impinged on him, so too did the sight. As he looked around, he saw walkways everywhere, all crowded with people moving purposefully in one direction. And there were more than he could see, he knew, for the leaves about him were alive with shadows.
Several people pushed past him as he paused, forc-ing him against the handrail. ‘Careful,’ he heard Derwyn saying crossly to the culprits. ‘Faller.’ This last word brought about some rapid head-turning and hasty apologies. Those who really saw him, however, paused and gaped openly, until Derwyn nudged them on their way. ‘Quite a stir,’ he said to Farnor, swinging on to yet another ladder. ‘I haven’t seen this much interest in a Congress meeting for a long time. It’s going to be quite an entertaining evening.’ Farnor sensed that he was smiling, though it was difficult to tell in the shifting shadows. Even so, he felt little reassurance in the words.
‘Last one,’ Derwyn said, as Farnor dropped down on to the walkway. It was wider than any Farnor had seen before, and it felt more solid under his feet. The sense of stability this gave him made him feel a little easier. As they walked along, the walkway was joined by others, and after a while it began to spiral slowly downwards, becoming wider as it dropped and as yet more walkways joined it. Progress, however, became slower as these tributaries brought with them increasing numbers of people.
Eventually they reached the ground, though Farnor deduced this from the feeling underfoot rather than from anything he could see amidst the noisy press of bodies. Being borne along by a crowd was a new experience for him and it was not one he enjoyed. Indeed, once or twice he felt panic welling up inside him. There must be more people here, in this one place, than in the entire valley at home, he thought. Derwyn, sensing his unease, kept very close to him. ‘It’s not normally this bad,’ he shouted above the din. ‘And we’re nearly there now.’
Looking ahead, Farnor saw the area they were mov-ing towards was ablaze with lights. Despite the strange structures that he had seen thus far in his stay, he was expecting to see some kind of building similar to the Council Hall at home. Instead however, he found himself walking along a curving avenue of trees. It was wide enough to allow the crowd to spread out, to Farnor’s relief, but the trees had an ominous quality about them as they loomed high into the darkness above him; darkness which was made yet darker by the bright lighting below.
Like great sentries, he thought.
Then the avenue widened out suddenly, like a river reaching the sea, and the crowd disgorged itself into a large circular clearing lit by brilliant sunstones that were both mounted on the trees and slung overhead by some means that Farnor could not make out. ‘This is your Congress Hall?’ he asked Derwyn.