It’s raining. I’ll soon be soaked through. But I’m not going back in there, not before dawn. I find a spot behind some barrels and hunker down. Should’ve brought a blanket. Though that would get wet soon enough. I put my head on my knees and start the words again. No Slammer here, no prison walls. But I still need the words. Seems like I’ve brought Mathuin’s lockup all the way to Winterfalls with me, in my head. Not only that, the old stuff, the hidden-away stuff, is still in there. Just waiting for the dark. And no Blackthorn to keep me brave.

Didn’t want to disturb anyone, hoped they’d drop off again once I was out. But not long after I’ve settled in my damp corner, someone comes out after me. He’s got a cloak on with the hood up. Comes over and squats down beside me.

‘Grim?’

Donagan. A pox on it. Sure to report to the prince in the morning, tell him I’m too crazy to be allowed here. I’ve ruined Blackthorn’s mission already.

‘Grim? Are you ill?’

‘Can’t sleep, that’s all. Go back in, no need for you to get wet.’

‘You’re soaked through. Come with me, let’s find you some dry clothes –’

‘I said leave it!’ This bursts out of me.

He goes quiet. But he doesn’t get up and head off. The rain keeps on falling, and the two of us get wetter.

‘Didn’t mean to snap,’ I say after a bit. ‘Can’t sleep in there. Don’t want to keep the rest of them awake. Best out here.’

‘Soaked through and shivering? Nonsense. If you’re worried about waking the men up, we can go in through the kitchen. The night guard will open up for us.’

I want to explain, but I can’t. The thing’s too big, too dark, and in his eyes too stupid. I shake my head. Wish I could shake all the bad stuff out and have it gone forever.

Donagan sits down on the ground next to me with his back against the wall. ‘Sleepless nights, that’s not so good,’ he says. ‘Is something troubling you? Or is it only the need to share the quarters with so many others?’

I wish he would go away and leave me alone. But I want him to stay, too. Since he came out the bad stuff’s faded a bit and I don’t need to keep saying the words. ‘Sleep better in our own place,’ I say. ‘Be all right when we can move back in.’

‘Didn’t Prince Oran offer you and Blackthorn the empty cottage here? That would give you some privacy.’