I sat down heavily on the nearest bed and nodded. I still couldn’t believe it; the Tipsania I knew would never stoop to a dalliance with a non-Sidhe especially when she had Byron, the Steward’s son, in her sights. Was this some kind of ruse? Did she know more about the Games than she was supposed to and was she using the Wild Man so she could earn an advantage?

‘The look in her eyes,’ I mumbled.

Brochan nodded. ‘She’s head over heels in love. It sounds like she’s entering the Games so that if she wins she can ask for the Clans’ approval for her relationship with the Wild Man as her prize.’

He was probably right and I felt affronted on Byron’s behalf. Sure, I knew he was using her because of his Clan’s financial situation but she didn’t know that. What if he was also in love with her? She was waltzing around behind his back, canoodling with a Wild Man … and a Wild Man who worked for Byron, at that.

‘Uh Integrity,’ Bob piped up. ‘Your face has gone a most curious shade of purple.’

There was a sharp knock from the far side of the cabin. ‘Lexie is still out there,’ I said, glad of the diversion.

‘I’ll go and get her,’ Speck said.

I gave him a tight smile of acknowledgment. Unbelievable. I couldn’t even muster an appropriate joke.

*

A couple of hours later, still reeling from the revelation that Tipsania was tiptoeing around behind Byron’s back, I met with Chieftain MacBain. She still maintained the taut pout of disapproval but curiosity no longer lingered behind those sharp eyes. I felt a faint trickle of foreboding down my spine which was confirmed when her first words had nothing to do with her missing uncle.

‘Was it you?’ she demanded. ‘Because if there is any evidence that it was, you will be thrown out of here before you can so much as say Clan Adair.’

I blinked. ‘Excuse me?’

‘You know exactly what I’m talking about.’

I took a step back and folded my arms. ‘No,’ I said coolly. ‘I don’t.’

She pointed to her neck. She was dripping in finery in much the same manner as Tipsania. Clearly this opening ceremony called for grander clothes than I possessed.

I shook my head. ‘I’m not very good at charades. How many syllables?’

‘My necklace,’ she sneered. ‘I took it off last night before I went to bed. Now it’s nowhere to be found ‒ and there’s only one thief here, Ms Adair. What have you done with it?’