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‘Nashira does have a knack for convincing humans to do things,’ I said quietly. ‘She convinced Lord Palmerston to hand the whole of Britain over on a silver platter.’

‘The motive hardly matters,’ Lesath said. ‘What matters is that our greatest tactical advantage – a dreamwalker – now has a disciplined rival. Our bodies are no longer our own.’

‘It doesn’t makesensefor her to spare him,’ I said, frustrated. ‘Surely she could reactivate Senshield with his spirit, if nothing else.’

‘I cannot yet explain her mercy on that front,’ Arcturus said.

He refused to look in my direction, even as he answered me. I didn’t know if I was grateful for it.

‘Paige did order us to evacuate, but we guessed it was a ruse, thanks to Nadine. She spoke in your defence,’ Nick said to him. ‘We stayed put.’

My jaw set. I wanted to leave, but I willed myself to keep to my seat. I deserved to hear this.

‘Good,’ Arcturus said. ‘Nashira had anticipated the airstrikes, thanks to her allies with precognitive gifts. She hoped the Mime Order, frightened from its hideout, would suffer heavy casualties in London. I am relieved to hear that you remained in the deep shelter.’

‘The night of the airstrikes,’ Maria said, seeing my face. ‘Where were you by then, Warden?’

‘In the crypts of the Île de la Citadelle. The next day, I was taken to a secure bunker. Although Nashira had foreseen the London bombing, her heir – Vindemiatrix – had not been able to ascertain who was behind it. She had also not known about the simultaneous attack on Paris.’

‘You said Vindemiatrix worked in the free world,’ I said. ‘Is her network called Grapevine?’

Arcturus nodded. Even though he was clamping the cord, it had loosened enough for me to feel his exhaustion.

‘Fitzours brought Nashira a hostage,’ he said. ‘Prior to the masquerade, he abducted Luce Ménard Frère, to neutralise the rising threat of disobedience from Inquisitor Ménard. Now Ménard cannot move against Nashira without endangering his spouse and child.’

‘So Cade was talking shite about wanting to help Ménard,’ I said. ‘He worked for Nashira.’

‘So it seems,’ Arcturus said. ‘She must have indoctrinated him in Oxford.’

‘He switched loyalties.’

Maria sighed. ‘You really do meet the most deranged people, Paige.’

‘The next thing I don’t understand,’ I said, ‘is why Nashira wouldn’t just kill Ménard on the spot.’

‘Ménard is popular, and his tenure as Grand Inquisitor has kept France strong and stable. I imagine that she has left Tjäder in place for the same reason,’ Arcturus said. ‘If she executed two such prominent figures, especially after the loss of Burnish, the denizens of Scion would lose their sense of security. Nashira believes in the enduring power of appearances.’

‘Frère must have given birth in captivity.’

‘Yes. She was still a hostage when I was last conscious, kept in the cell beside mine. Fitzours took the infant, Victoire.’

Frère and I detested each other, but I had never doubted that she loved her children. Having her newborn wrenched away must have destroyed her. ‘Is Cade the father, like he told me?’

‘Frère insisted otherwise to me. She claimed the child was amaurotic, conceived with Ménard.’

It was surreal to imagine them talking about that sort of thing, not least because Frère despised Rephs. I could barely imagine her with a hair out of place, let alone in a prison cell.

‘I saw the child,’ Arcturus said. ‘She is not voyant.’

‘You can’t usually tell until they’re older,’ Maria said. ‘Can you?’

‘Our eyes can see what yours cannot,’ Terebell said. ‘Even infant voyants have auras.’

‘I suspect that Fitzours invented the affair to convince Paige that she would have power over him in the Hôtel Garuche,’ Arcturus said, ‘which, in turn, allowed him to lure her inside.’

Entering that place was the most reckless and short-sighted decision I had ever made, and that was quite the achievement. I had been exhausted, traumatised and racked with pneumonia, but nothing excused that degree of stupidity. Cade had played me like a fiddle – though to what end, I had no idea. He had never hurt or crossed me in there.

‘In Oxford,’ I said, ‘I questioned why he was trying to befriend me, and he made up a story to throw me off the scent. It didn’t work, but he clearly thinks he’s got the gift of the gab.’