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This time, the water didn’t hit me from above. It wrapped and invaded my entire body, filling my throat, my chest, my stomach. I was trapped in the black depths, unable to move an inch.He gave himself up for you, Suhail whispered. He loomed from the shadows, eyes red and soulless.The concubine is ours now, dreamwalker. He will be ours for as long as you live.

‘Paige?’

I blinked, and he melted away. A bead of sweat trickled from my hairline.

‘Maria,’ I said. ‘Is that you?’

‘Yes. Harald says we need to walk from here.’ Her face slowly came into relief, brow lined in concern. ‘Paige, you’re very pale. Are you all right?’

‘I’m fine. Just … forgot where I was.’

‘I’ll remind you next time.’

My eyes were dry as smoke. The illuminated clock on the dashboard told me it was just past six in the morning. When I listed out of the car, my boots sank into snow.

The faint blue light of dawn revealed the mountains around us. I drew my jacket closer, my shivers worsening.

The Alps were not the gentle hills that had surrounded my grandparents’ farmhouse, or the Galtees, which had seemed impossibly tall when I was young. Untouched snow and evergreens covered their rugged slopes. I was so used to living in a citadel, I had fallen out of touch with this sort of natural beauty.

Mist feathered in my breath as the wind blew, leaving wisps of snow in my hair. The cold would keep me awake, though it didn’t help my sudden chill, or the stiffness in my fingers. That had been the worst flashback in a while.

Harald had brought us to a sleepy village. He knocked on a door and spoke to a grey-haired woman, then came back to us.

‘The villagers have not seen any patrols,’ he said, ‘but we should proceed with caution, in case of drones.’

‘I’m not convinced I know what a drone is,’ I said.

‘It’s a small uncrewed aircraft, often used for surveillance. Scion does deploy them for military purposes, but not in its citadels,’ Harald said. A sheep bleated. ‘If a drone detects us, it may draw the attention of a ground patrol, which I would prefer to avoid.’

My nod was terse. Admitting my lack of knowledge to Maria was one thing, but having to do it in front of the others filled me with a hot rush of shame. I wanted to blame Scion, but I could have taken more of an interest when traders came from elsewhere. I could have looked harder for knowledge – but Jaxon had wanted me wed to London, so London had become my world.

‘I never went this way through the Alps,’ Verca said. ‘How long will it take?’

‘Around six hours. A car will be waiting on the other side, so I can drive you to Command.’ Harald took a huge rucksack from the passenger seat and hitched it on to his shoulders. ‘Domino maintains a supply cabin in the pass. We’ll rest there, then continue to the border.’

A path led out of the village. Harald stuck in a pair of earphones, pulled on a woollen hat, and set off. I glanced at the sky, searching for aircraft, before I followed.

For the first hour, I tried to savour the sights and sounds, without much luck. Walking left me with too much room for contemplation. With every step, I wondered if I was moving any closer to Arcturus. When I sent another nudge along the golden cord, nothing came back.

I didn’t know what that meant. If Arcturus had been executed, surely the cord would have broken. If not, he was almost certainly with Nashira. She liked keeping her trophy close.

I had no idea where she would be. London had been her seat of power for some time, but the airstrikes would have rattled her, and Versailles and Oxford were both compromised.

Scion had been founded on the promise of security for those who submitted. The airstrikes would have destroyed that illusion overnight. Now even its founders were running out of safe places. I allowed myself some bitter satisfaction at that dose of poetic justice, even if it might not last. I was a fugitive with no home of my own, but if anything I had endured had made Nashira Sargas less comfortable, I could live with it.

The sun climbed into a clear sky. We climbed with it, past larch trees and piles of timber, following a distant line of pylons. Maria and Verca waited for me, but I soon fell behind, weighed down by the fatigue.

To conserve strength, I had tried to keep my attention off the æther, but Harald had mentioned the possibility of patrols, so I let my awareness widen. At once, I sensed them.

‘Maria,’ I called. She turned and came back towards me. ‘There are dreamscapes about a quarter of a mile ahead of us. Feels like eight or nine humans, and three animals. Can you warn Harald?’

She cursed and broke into a jog. I trudged after her, watching as she and Harald talked beside a boulder.

‘This may be a patrol with dogs,’ Harald said when I caught up. ‘They could have set up a checkpoint or blockade.’ He scratched at a scar on his lip. ‘We’ll have to go around.’

Verca blew into her palms. ‘And how long willthattake?’

‘It will extend our journey by several hours. We’ll have to stay in the Alps tonight. Our supply cabin is small, but it will keep us warm.’