‘If this is ultimately futile, and the geomancer and her men are too powerful for us, then we might only make them pay in some small way for what they have done. Would you be content with that?’

Dalip stared at his hands and wondered if he could do it. He was a student, a son, a brother. Not a fighter. Why was he here? He was here because he was being held against his will by people who wanted to feed him to dogs. That was why. That was the answer: not ‘fight’. So they were wrong, and he’d show them they were wrong, one way or another. If that meant pretending to become what they wanted, then he’d do that, only for as long as it took to work out a way of escaping.

‘Yes.’

It was Stanislav’s turn to come to a decision. His gaze wandered up to the first balcony, where the geomancer had sat. He pursed his lips and looked pensive.

‘Yes, then. I will attempt to train you. I know the basics. If nothing else, you will leave a better-looking corpse.’ He checked that Pigface wasn’t in sight. ‘Strip,’ he said.

‘Sorry, what?’

‘Strip. Let me see what I have to work with.’

Dalip kept his kachera on. Otherwise, he was naked, and felt utterly uncomfortable as Stanislav circled him, sizing him up as if he was a joint of meat. The air chilled his skin, and what hair he had rose up.

‘I have seen worse. You do a lot of sport?’

‘Cricket, mainly.’ Dalip looked straight ahead.

‘Cricket. How very … English. Can you run, throw, catch?’

‘I’m not bad, I suppose.’

‘The ball is small and hard. Are you scared of it?’

‘I know it’s going to hurt sometimes, and more if I get it wrong. But no, not really.’

‘This mark here.’ Stanislav pointed to Dalip’s arm. ‘This is where the dog bit you?’

‘That’s where I let the dog bite me. Then I stabbed it in the back and neck.’

‘We want to avoid that. A bigger creature will break your arm, even if they do not break your skin. A dog has blunt claws, made for running. A cat – a big cat – is sharp at every corner and will slice you like one of your Sunday roasts.’ Stanislav sized up the floor space. ‘This is small. Speed will only count for so much. Once you have made contact, ending it quickly will be your only option. Do you know any judo, or karate, or wrestling or boxing?’

‘No. I never really got into fights at all.’

‘Not even with racists or neo-Nazis?’

‘I got thumped a couple of times, but I was always able to run away.’ He shifted awkwardly. ‘Can I put the boilersuit back on? I’m cold and …’