Jinia’s eyes had closed and her head lolled, and if not for the soldier holding her upright she would have fallen over. Wreneck was sure that she was dead. When the woman pulled her hand out from under the tunic, it was red with blood. The man she had been gripping had spilled out the pee that wasn’t pee, and he backed away, pulling free as she laughed at him.

The woman spoke above Wreneck, her voice loud and commanding. ‘Sort this up, all of you. If the captain sees or hears of this, we’ll all hang.’

The man from the steps said, ‘Only one way to sort this, sergeant.’

‘So get on with it,’ she replied. ‘Maybe nobody comes up here like they was saying, but these servants got families somewhere, I bet. Thing is, we need to clean it all up, leave no sign of anything.’

There was blood on the ground, and Lady Nerys had rolled on to one side but her leg or hip was broken and she moaned and moaned.

‘Fine, only how do we do that?’

The sergeant sighed. ‘You really have no brain, do you, Telra? Bodies into the house and burn the fucker down to the ground. We saw the smoke, didn’t get here in time to save anyone. Tragic mess. Farab, did you kill the girl?’

The woman with the blood-smeared hand and forearm shrugged. ‘Probably. In any case, she won’t be coming round any time soon.’

‘Into the house, then.’ The sergeant looked down at Wreneck. He tried meeting her stare but she wouldn’t let him. She drew her sword, pointed it at him. Wreneck tried to curl tight. She pushed the blade into him anyway.

It sliced through his left shoulder, cutting the muscle down to score along the bone, and from there the sharp but rounded tip slid into his chest. It bumped along his ribs, then down into his lower belly, driving up against his hip. When she yanked the weapon free, the pain exploded in Wreneck.

* * *

He woke up coughing. Each cough was agony. There was blood everywhere. His left arm was senseless, pinned to the floor under him by his own weight. When he pulled back, more blood spurted, then slowed to a dribble through black smears of dried blood. Smoke filled the room. He was in the house. Looking around, eyes burning, he saw flames everywhere. Jinia was lying beside him, motionless, terribly pale. He reached for her. Her skin was cool, but there was life in it.

He was clumsy, but he wasn’t weak. Long ago he used to lift Orfantal with one arm, to make the boy squirm and squeal. Jinia was heavier, though, and there was a new weakness in him that he didn’t quite understand, but he managed to angle her limp form over his uninjured shoulder. When he stood, gasping under her added weight, he was blinded by the smoke. But he thought he had seen a way through, down the main corridor. He staggered in that direction.