Chapter TwentyThe twenty-first councilor and Derelind’s report from Mormoreth arrived almost simultaneously.
It was the Seer of Weideth, uncomfortable on a borrowed horse, who completed the Council’s quorum; he arrived late in the evening while a light, chilling drizzle blew down out of the north, and his calls to the castle’s gatekeeper went unheeded for fully fifteen minutes, unheard over the hiss of the rain and the mutter of the wind. There was only a single guard posted at the gate after dark and he was huddled well away from the window, drawing what warmth he could from his shuttered lantern and a skin of cheap red wine; finally, though, he heard something worth checking on and peered down to discover the Seer, shivering at the gate, wrapped in an immense gray cloak.
The gatekeeper
