8 The Visit to the HillNO-ONE MOVED IN the house on the dark hill. One had not the will, another dared not, and another sat rock-still in an intensity of watchfulness. The mindless fear had left Ilissos for a while, leaving the ordinary anxiety of a man terrified to reveal himself to strangers, one of them probably dangerous and certainly powerful. Just how powerful he did not know, neither did he wish to.
Time edged on. It seemed that it could only be measured by the worsening cramp in the Syrgan’s arm and leg. As he tried with tiny movements to ease the pain, he realised that in any other room he would have been discovered already, traced by the scent of the herbs in his bundle. Here the air was heavy with such smells. A few more would not be noticed, except by their freshness. In the r
