Katāros, cockroach that he was, knew every shadow and nook in which to conceal them. Not that much discretion was needed; the grounds were as good as deserted. When they had gone underground, her hope of any pursuit had died. It was only out of sheer stubbornness that she had fought every inch in the tunnel where they could no longer carry her. She had thrown herself down in the filth, jammed her toes into every crack she could find, writhed like a netted serpent despite the sword-point at her back, deaf to the curses her captors spat at her. Because she knew that once outside the walls, their fate was sealed.

To her surprise, Anna fought as gamely as she did but it was exhausting work and the younger girl tired more quickly and was soon mere deadweight. They were passing her down from the effluent pipe to the rocks below when Lilla heard Erlan’s voice. She screamed, screamed with all the air left in her lungs.

Katāros lashed her face, butting her head against the stone. ‘Shut your mouth, whore,’ he snarled, then shoved her over the edge. She hit the rocks hard, skinning her shins and jarring her kidneys. Katāros leaped down after her. ‘Pick her up.’

The Arab leader, the one called Battal, barked an order and the two other men seized her. Battal, meanwhile, had a knife at Anna’s throat and was already driving her across the rocks towards the flight of steps that led into the water a hundred yards away. The harbour was deserted but for a handful of small boats bobbing up and down. ‘There it is!’ he cried.

They were covering the distance too fast. They would soon be there. And then. . . Lilla screamed again, willing the sound to carry help faster, but earning herself only a punch in the face. Battal snarled something angrily at his underling, probably chastening him for damaging valuable goods. As recompense for his reprimand the man clamped his fist even tighter over her mouth, digging long, cruel nails into her cheeks, making her eyes water with pain.

Erlan clawed his way through the slime like an animal escaping a snare, the water rushing past him. At last his fingers curled over the edge of the outlet. He saw the faint ring of sea and sky. Next moment he threw himself onto the rocks below, so intent on closing the distance that he hardly felt the blows. Behind him Aska yelped and, at last catching sight of his prey, leaped down, landing on top of Erlan.