Alistair stood by the window with the note in his hand, and for a long moment, he did not move.
He did not panic. Panic was never useful, and it was not what he was feeling anyway. What he felt was a cold, familiar clarity, the same kind that had carried him into the Black Mountains years ago.
The clarity told him things quickly.
The note had reached the room while his back was turned to the door, which meant the keeper had a key and had used it without making a single sound.
'A man who can walk into a locked room without being heard is not only an innkeeper,' Alistair thought.
The second thing was worse, since the note had been written before he ever arrived.
Renvald Crane had not waited to confirm that Tobian Marrow crossed the gate. The Wreath had drafted the words that morning, certain Alistair would step through the door of the Sealed Step before sundown.
Alistair frowned, turning the paper over once.
