Whatever. I let her babble on. ‘The spider,’ I said to Candy, over the top of her voice, ‘was trying to weave a web. The first time it failed. It tried again, and again it failed but it didn’t give up. It kept on going and on the third attempt it finally succeeded. Because of that one little spider, Robert the Bruce decided not to yield. He pulled himself together for one more fight and he succeeded. The Highlands are free in part because of that, not because of magic but because of a spider. He could have had a genie with him but it wouldn’t have made a difference because it was that spider that saved the country.’

As I watched, the spider halted in its attempts to spin its web and did what I could only describe as a flounce. I smiled. ‘I hope Taylor’s alright,’ I half-whispered.

The spider stared at me again then twisted round and scarpered out through the gap in the bars. I tracked its movements until it was completely out of sight. Thanks, Bob, I said silently. It made a big difference knowing he was around. If everything really did fall into total shite, I could fall back on a wish. It was a last resort, and there was a part of me that was curious to see just how Aifric was going to play things tomorrow, but at least I knew I had a Plan B of my own.

***

I tried to stay awake for as long as I could, waiting for Bob the spider’s return but my spirit was far more willing than my flesh. After an hour or two, despite my best efforts, I succumbed to unconsciousness again. In fact, I’d probably have stayed under for another forty-eight hours if a bucket of icy water hadn’t been flung at me.

‘Get up!’

Freaked out by my sudden awakening, I sprang to my feet. I shook off the freezing droplets and glared at my attacker. It was a different guard this time – a burly Moncrieffe Sidhe male. He took out some kind of truncheon and slammed it against the metal bars.

‘Sort yourself out!’ he screamed like a stereotypical drill sergeant. ‘We are leaving!’

I rubbed the back of my neck. I still hurt all over but at least it was a dull ache rather than an all-encompassing pain that made it difficult to think. I straightened my wet clothes as best I could and glanced up to see if Bob was there. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any sign of spiders or a genie. There was, however, a long length of web stretching from one side of the cage to the other. I squinted: it looked like a T followed by a squiggle. I couldn’t work out for the life of me what the squiggle was though. T what? T bloody what?

Something smacked me in the face. More stunned than anything, I gasped. The new guard laughed. ‘Put those on.’ When I didn’t move, he let out an impressive snarl and rattled the cage bars once again. I winced at the noise, bent down and picked up a pair of handcuffs. I considered refusing but it wouldn’t help matters. I snapped them on and looked up again, still trying to work out what Bob’s impenetrable message meant.