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‘I suppose so,’ he said, still sounding dazed, ‘but that doesn’t mean you can just …’

‘Go look for them?’

‘Em,’ Lyn said.

‘What?’ I fell back into my chair. My heartbeat was a dizzying rattle against my ribs. ‘If anyone knows how to solve this mess, it’s the gods. For all we know, they’d be happy to receive a visit after all these years.’

‘The continent is inaccessible,’ Tared reminded me, his smile not as natural as usual. ‘You’ll have a hard time finding any gods if the plague burns your skin off your face before you take the first step.’

‘But we just concluded the plague is divine magic.’ I turned to Lyn. ‘And according to theMage’s Compendiumand that mouldy history of the pre-divine world you lent me, the only magic that could oppose the magic of the gods is …’

She stiffened. ‘Demon magic.’

Had Creon drawn a knife and killed them all on the spot, they couldn’t have gone any quieter.

‘So,’ I hurried on, before they could regain their senses and bring up wise yet impractical concerns such as the point that I had not the faintest idea what I was doing. ‘The plan is quite simple, really. Fly to the continent. Use demon magic to keep the plague at bay while we look for the gods. Find them and ask a few questions. Get rid of the bindings. Victory and eternal happiness for all, the end. Any questions?’

I hadn't expected Tared to be the first to speak, but he leaned forward so suddenly I jolted back. He settled his elbows on the edge of the map inlaid in the table surface as he slowly said, ‘Who exactly did you have in mind with thatweyou’re throwing around, Em?’

‘Creon and me?’ I said, praying he wouldn’t make an issue of that if I looked hard enough like there was no issue to be made. ‘I didn’t think you could afford to send too many people from the Underground.'

‘Well, time to think again.’ His eyes shot to Creon, who’d gone dangerously, glacially quiet – like a sheet of ice hiding a brimming volcano. ‘You’re not going to—’

‘Travel around with him alone?’ I finished with a sharp chuckle. ‘What do you think he’ll do – look at my ankles?’

Naxi laughed out loud, the sound of it high and melodious. She was the only one still capable of laughing. Beyla and Nenya perched on the edges of their chairs, glaring; Cas and Valeska exchanged nervous looks; Agenor seemed in full agreement with Tared for once in his life.

Lyn’s glance at me was an apology as she said, ‘Ankles aside, we have to think about the public look of it, Em.’

‘What public look?’ I said, scoffing. ‘I doubt we’ll run into any gossiping hordes in the middle of plague land.’

‘Your absence will be noticed in the Underground,’ Nenya said. Her voice was as stiff as her shoulders. ‘You shouldn’t expect the likes of Gish and Valdora to stay quiet about that.’

‘Exactly,’ Lyn said, burying her hands in her red hair, ‘and that will be a perfect confirmation of the Mother’s version of events. Clearly the Alliance doesn’t have any control over Creon after all! Or over Em, for that matter! So why should anyone trust any of our plans to … Hell, I canhearthem say it already.’

‘So what are you suggesting?’ My grip on my voice was abandoning me. All those arguments and counter-arguments, magical necessity and calculated risks, and now they were going to stop me because of the one complication I hadn't thought about – the gods-damned public opinion? ‘That we take a bloody chaperone with us?’

‘I could come?’ Naxi suggested, looking up with bouncing blonde curls.

We all blinked at her.

‘That’s not so odd, is it?’ She sent me a dazzling smile. ‘If you need demons to handle the plague, having another one around can’t hurt. Creon might need to sleep every now and then. I promise I won’t look at your ankles if I can help it.’

Lyn smothered a bout of nervous laughter in her palm. Creon’s grin was wry but grateful, a clear sign he too had heard the words between the lines –I won’t get in the way of that affair of yours.

‘Well,’ I said weakly. Time for quick decisions, before anyone else could start making suggestions – before Tared or Agenor could start making suggestions. Taking Naxi along wasn’t what I’d had in mind, but it could have been much, much worse. Hell, it could have been a full company of fellow travellers. ‘That sounds like a pretty sensible suggestion? Would you all agree with the plan if the three of us were to go?’

‘Aren’t you planning to bring any alves along?’ Beyla said.

Oh, fuck.

‘Not a bad point,’ Nenya said, folding her arms. ‘If you must venture into uncharted danger, you should be able to get out fast. And it would be good to make sure we can return there in future, if necessary.’

‘Yes,’ I tried, ‘but—’

‘I can make time,’ Beyla cut in, and there was a gleam in her eyes I didn’t see often – a hint of hunger at the thought of new horizons to uncover. ‘As long as we confirm beforehand that the demons are indeed able to keep the plague at bay, I don’t mind accompanying you.’

Which would make everything significantly more complicated – starting with hiding a secret relationship twenty-four hours a day with not a shred of privacy around. Then again, if the prize was a broken binding – if the prize was Creon’s voice and the fertility of every magical female in the world …