Albert nodded. ‘Yes. That’s why we went to speak to Marcus. He has Theo.’

‘What?’

‘Yes, we found out that he has her. He’s taken her somewhere into the tunnels.’

There was no mistaking it, Father staggered where he stood for a moment. His face was beyond pale, it was devoid of any colour whatsoever. A bead of sweat rolled down his face; he had all the appearance of a man one second away from a heart attack.

‘Father!’ said June, visibly alarmed. ‘Father!’

Father stood where he was for a moment, eyes shut. Then he looked at her. ‘He knows who she is. If we do not find her soon, we are all doomed.’

‘We’ll find her, Father,’ said June, almost reassuringly. ‘We will.’

He nodded. ‘I must go.’

He turned around, heading for the partition, and the two guards standing on either side of it stepped forward, blocking him. Albert glanced to his left and saw Colby and the others looking at each other uneasily. Something wasn’t right, he could feel it too.

‘Here!’ said June angrily. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’

‘Nobody leaves,’ said one of the men—a short, thickset fellow, with curly brown hair and a hooked nose. ‘Not you, not them, not the old man.’

‘Silence! How dare you speak to me or Father like that!’

‘Father!’ said the other guard with a shout of laughter. ‘My father’s dead, and he don’t—’

He broke off as the cloth moved back with a flash of purple, and the Praetor Damon came slowly in. One look at his face and Albert knew that something was wrong, very wrong.

Father took a step towards him. ‘What is it, Damon?’ he said urgently.

‘The count is done,’ said the Praetor, in his hoarse, quavering voice. ‘The people have spoken. Sanctuary belongs to Vail now.’

They all stared at him, dropping open, varied exclamations permeating the air.

‘What?’

‘How?’

‘It can’t be!’

Father held up a hand and they all fell silent. He turned back to look at the Praetor, who looked uneasily back at him. ‘I speak the truth. As Master of the Voice it is my duty to supervise the count. I have and the results are clear. The people choose Vail.’

Father looked at him, an odd expression on his face, and shook his head slowly, mouth pursed up. It seemed an eternity before he replied. ‘Where is Ucho?’

‘In keeping with tradition, Ucho has pledged the force and his own allegiance to Vail.’

‘No, but this can’t be,’ said Colby, shaking his head. ‘We were in the Square till a few minutes before the vote closed. I saw the vote banks. Father was way ahead. There’s no way that many people could have come in to vote for Vail in two or three minutes.’

‘Aye,’ said Kieran. ‘’E was gallopin’ ahead, was Father.’

‘Oh, it is no mystery,’ said Father quietly. ‘Is it, Damon?’