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‘Restocking the ground floor fires with Sarah,’ she said, a little frown appearing between her brows.She looked as if she wanted to ask why,but I knew she wouldn’t dare.

‘Thank you.’

When I emerged back into the hall beyond the door, Ves was grinning like he’d stumbled across a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

‘She poured wine on you?’He practically skipped after me, and if putting him off had ever been a possibility, it wasn’t one now.‘Whoisthis woman?’

I didn’t respond.I had no truth to tell that would do anything other than inflame his curiosity, and I didn’t even really know the answer myself.

‘I didn’t realise you were so interested in the business of running my household that disciplining a maid is something you’d want to see,’ I said dryly when we emerged from a stairwell into one of the downstairs galleries, thickly carpeted and dripping with gold-leaf, from the crown mouldings to the skirting.The same grandmother who had liked poisonous plants had been equally partial to extravagance.

‘What a daft comment to make.Ilovedisciplining maids,’ he replied, and the sight of Sarah dusting herself off before the fireplace was all that kept me from snarling at him again.

The housemaid bobbed into a quick curtsey as we approached her, but she kept her face turned down.

‘The new maid is supposed to be working with you, is that right?’

It took her a moment to reply, like she wasn’t sure I was talking to her.‘Yes, my lord.’

‘Then where is she?’

‘She might be in one of the other rooms.’She darted a quick glance up at me, and she had that shifty look of a human caught in a lie.

‘Might be?’I repeated, my tone sharp.‘You mean you don’t know?’

‘Not for certain, my lord.’

‘She’s gone, isn’t she?’My instincts were already clawing at me, knowing that I wouldn’t find her within the walls of the castle.

She met my eyes fully now.Her lips were pressed tightly together, and all the blood had drained from her face.

‘Sarah, where has she gone?If you don’t tell me, she’ll likely get herself killed.’

‘I warned her against it,’ The words tumbled out of her mouth as if trying to race each other.‘But she wouldn’t listen.She said she’d rather take her chances on the Shadowmire than with… you.’

That anger I’d only just leashed stirred again, gnawing at my intention to mislead Ves.She had run into the Shadowmire at night rather than stay where it was safe.Itold herit was dangerous and still she’d gone.Just when I thought I knew the foolishness of humans, she had to go and prove me wrong.

‘Well, there goes my fun,’ Ves said, his tone glum.I ignored him.

‘How long ago did she leave?’

‘Not long.Maybe twenty minutes or so.’

I was moving again before she had finished the sentence.

Ves scrambled after me.‘How do you have the energy to storm around the place like this?’

‘I never asked you to follow me.’

‘How could I not?You’ve been so dull and predictable for years now, all obsessed with that moth-eaten old prophecy and turning yourself into an ice sculpture.This is the most life I’ve seen out of you in at least a decade.’

We ascended another staircase, this one narrow and winding all the way up to the roof of the northern tower.Ves kept suggesting rest stops between trying to ferret information out of me, but I gave him all the attention of a mosquito buzzing in my ear and climbed on without him whenever his pace flagged.

By the time we reached the roof, he was panting and muttering about how even humans had elevators.The northern tower was Dreadhold’s tallest and it seemed to sway beneath our feet as we stepped out into the cold night.The entire roof space was crowded with winding pathways bound in crude walls constructed with rubble and foliage packed carefully together, with bits of fabric and fur filling the occasional hole.

Vesryn pulled a face.‘I will never understand why you let that canary of yours leave all this rubbish up here.’

A shriek pierced the air and with a rush of wind, Melaie swooped low over our heads, dropping onto the wall before us with a crunch that sent half of the rubble cascading to the ground.She eyed Ves, her tail flicking in displeasure.