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‘I see you got the hang of sarcasm.’

She closed her eyes. ‘How Arcturus has not yet lost his patience with you, I cannot tell.’

‘I’m sure he has, at one point or another.’

‘No. He is precisely as tolerant of you as he appears.’ Her eyes opened. ‘From my perspective, you have begun to atone for your folly in Paris, but Arcturus may have some choice words for you, given your lack of faith in his loyalty. Since you are here, I will give him the opportunity to express them in private tonight.’

‘He deserves that.’

We sat in patient silence after that. I dared not hope that I was making progress with her.

When Arcturus returned to the parlour, he sat beside Terebell. Nick had been right. There was a clear and unusual stiffness to his bearing.

‘Paige,’ he said, ‘I understand you have aster poisoning, and no memory of your captivity. I believe I can help you.’

Hearing his voice was still an indescribable relief. I wanted to wrap myself in that voice, sleep in it.

‘I can’t ask that of you,’ I said. ‘Not when you only just … came back.’

‘You need not ask. I have offered,’ Arcturus said. ‘If not for your sound judgement and determination, I would still be imprisoned in my own dreamscape. I wish to repay that debt.’

‘You got me out of the Hôtel Garuche. I owed you for that, if you want to keep count.’

‘Paige.’

The way he said my name was so familiar, it stopped my reply in my throat.

‘This must be done,’ Terebell said. ‘You will not succeed in routing Fitzours if your spirit cannot rest.’ She rose. ‘I will leave you for the evening, so you might begin. I intend to summon Pleione from London, to ask her more about him. She was his keeper in Oxford.’

‘Before you go,’ I said, ‘I have a request from Domino. Command wants to talk to you. In person.’

‘Why?’

‘They’ve heard about the mysterious founders of Scion, but they have no evidence that you exist, which they’d appreciate. Their support could be useful.’ I looked at Arcturus. ‘You told me the Ranthen wanted an advisory role on Earth. That you wanted to establish a fair balance of power, and to maintain an open and cordial relationship with humans. Is that still true?’

‘Yes,’ he said.

‘When do you want to start being open?’

He glanced at Terebell. They spoke a silent language I had yet to be able to interpret.

‘Revealing ourselves to human authorities beyond Scion could work in our favour, or against us,’ Arcturus said. ‘So far, we havechosen to maintain our secrecy outside the Archon, to avoid the possibility of human scrutiny and mistrust. Nashira rightfully feared that.’

‘Yes,’ Terebell said. ‘We are stronger than humans, but you outnumber us many times. As you pointed out yourself in London, the revelation of our presence would cause widespread consternation, if not worse. It could imperil every Rephaite.’

‘You told me Nashira might reveal herself once she has Europe under her control,’ I said. ‘With a dreamwalker in her pocket and countries falling by the month, that may be sooner than we think, especially if Italy caves. I think you need to decide whether you want to beat Nashira to it. Itisgoing to happen at some point. It’s just a matter of who gets to shape the story.’

Terebell seemed to reflect on this. Arcturus let her think.

‘It may be wise to undermine her plans by being the first to reveal ourselves, at least to your governments,’ she eventually said. ‘In a limited capacity.’

‘Okay.’ I looked between them. ‘So you will speak to Command?’

Arcturus considered. ‘Do you trust them, Paige?’

‘I trust Ducos. She’s been promoted to Command,’ I said. ‘I don’t know the other two very well, but I’ve been assured they’ll protect your privacy.’

‘Ducos struck me as principled. I am willing, but I must defer to Terebell.’