Signy flinched at the first gong, both hands gripping her little bug of runes instinctively, her slim hands turning white-knuckled.  But she watched and made quite sure that the horses would be tended to, even going so far as to find a withered but still serviceable apple for Goti, though the horse was very nearly too tired to eat.  Now she wished she could read animals' eyes as well as her runes, for clearly this animal had seen much.<br/><br/>She patted and soothed the horse as best she could, watching the reactions to the summons.  The idea of going to the hall made her uneasy, perhaps simply because so many people would be crowding into it.  Some would be bound to look askance at her, perhaps many of them.  But they would want a rune-reader, surely, to help guide their decision, even if she was not from this place.<br/><br/>She edged closer, slowly and reluctantly, still watching for now as other moved more quickly in that direction, postponing the final step for herself as long as possible.