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But the alf said no such thing, made no comment on what had happened or what Nenya was doing here, miles away from any civilised company. The only explanation we received was a throwaway, ‘Look who I found at home.’

‘Oh, Nenya!’ Lyn exclaimed before I could say anything, and although there was a hint of tightness below her superficial excitement, it was notnearlyenough for the miserable state in which her friend had appeared. ‘Finally, some decent company in this place. Take a chair. Are you staying for dinner?’

‘What …’ I began.

‘Showing up at the right moment, really,’ Edored interrupted loudly, shooting me a steel grey glare as he pulled out the chair beside him. The sight ofEdoredreproaching me for a lack of tact nearly made me drop my dust rag. ‘Did Bey tell you about the temple, Nen? Pretty fun place, it seems. Pour her a glass, will you, Tared?’

‘Oh, thank you,’ Nenya muttered as she collapsed into the chair and Tared pressed a glass of water into her trembling hands. ‘I’d love dinner. Just came home. Everything’s fine.’ A shivering breath, followed by an unconvincing smile at Tared. ‘We won’t have to worry about Bakaru anymore. He was … helpful, really.’

The way their determined smiles stiffened simultaneously at Bakaru’s name told me thathelpfulwas the last label the king of vampires deserved. And yet no one objected or even raised an eyebrow; only Edored contently said, ‘I knew you’d manage it.’

I tried again. ‘But what—’

‘Em?’ Lyn cut in, jumping from her chair. ‘If Nenya’s staying the night, we might have to revisit the bedroom arrangement. Could you help me take care of everyone’s bags?’

Baffled or not, I knew an attempt at deflection when it bit me on the nose. Dumping my rag in the corner, I threw a last bewildered look at Nenya’s slumping figure and obediently followed Lyn out of the room. Creon ignored me as I passed him by, blade sinking rhythmically into the onion he was slicing to shreds.

The sound followed me into the dark hallway. I shut the door behind me with too much force.

Lyn was already halfway to the farthest bedroom, and I nearly fell to my death over Edored’s carelessly dropped bag as I hurried after her. A small ball of fire ignited in the palm of her hand to light my way. But she did not look back until I’d slipped into the room behind her and she’d closed the door, as if we were about to discuss the Mother’s secret war plans themselves.

‘Em—’

‘What for the gods’ sakes is going on?’ I hissed, keeping my voice down even though walls and doors stood between us and the others. Her furtiveness was contagious. ‘She looks like Beyla dug her out of some grave! Why are you all ignoring the state she’s in?’

‘She doesn’t want to discuss it.’ The tightness broke to the surface now, no longer buried beneath that unnatural layer of pleasant lightness. In the rusty glow of the fire, her eyes gleamed suspiciously. ‘Don’t stare at her like that again. Don’t try to fix it. You’ll only make it worse by forcing her to talk about it.’

‘To talk aboutwhat?’

For a moment, Lyn hesitated, lips halfway to forming words. Then, with a muffled curse, she slumped down on the edge of the low bed and mumbled, ‘Bakaru sucking her dry to make a point.’

I stared at her, even my nausea hitting slowly. ‘He … drank her blood?’

‘Yes. Too much of it.’

‘Why in hell would he do that?’ My voice shot up. ‘What kind of point—'

‘She used to be one of his blood slaves.’ Lyn spoke fast now, as if desperate to get the story over with. ‘He’s one of those ancient vampires who believe they’ll weaken their powers by drinking from anyone but people they turned themselves. Bakaru has been the giver to a whole host of poor sods who spent their lives locked up in Gar Temen, like cattle for him to dine on.’

I swallowed a wave of bitter gall. ‘That’s disgusting.’

‘Yes,’ she said tightly. ‘I’ve never set foot in those catacombs, but from what I’ve heard, it isn’t pretty.’

Catacombs. The image of Nenya – proud, majestic Nenya – chained like an animal in some grisly cellar … I stifled a shiver and managed, ‘How did she get out?’

Lyn sighed. ‘Edored.’

‘Oh.Oh, gods.’

Her smile was joyless. ‘One of his more brilliant moments of stupidity, honestly. We visited Bakaru in an attempt to make him give a damn about the war his people were losing, and Edored wandered off into places he wasn’t supposed to be. Found her there. Faded back later that night, after we’d all gone home, and somehow convinced her to sneak away with him for a few hours. I think he dragged her to some nymph market.’

‘Convinceher?’ I dropped down on the bed beside her. ‘She neededconvincingto get out of that place?’

‘You’ve heard how she talks about Bakaru,’ Lyn said gloomily. ‘She still believes she owes him for saving her life after … well, you’ve seen her face.’

‘Right,’ I said and decided not to ask how those wounds had come about. ‘Unhelpful.’

‘Yes.’ She was silent for a moment, staring at her own glowing palm. ‘I don’t even know how often Edored went back for her. He told me it was just five times, but Tared thinks it’s closer to twenty, based on … Well, anyway, he kept pulling her out of there for just a few hours at a time and returning her to her cell, until one day she decided she’d had enough and wouldn’t go back. So that’s how she ended up with us.’