I drew back my lips. ‘Sure,’ I said. ‘I’ve still got teeth. This could be fun.’

His face twisted. Suddenly a surge of power sprang from him, striking me in the chest. Cold spread across my body, numbing me down to my arteries.

‘Not so funny now, are ya?’ he spat.

Someone shouted from behind and, distracted, he turned to talk to them. At the same moment, a merman strolled down the deck towards me, his large arms wrapped around a box entitled ‘wedding favours’. He didn’t glance at me as he went past but I could see his gills flapping rapidly at the back of his neck. If I hadn’t appreciated how dire the situation was before, the sight of Brochan on a boat of all things would have hammered it home.

Brochan paused at the gangplank and shifted his burden, ostensibly to get a better grasp on it, as the guard returned his attention to me. He was holding a swathe of dark shapeless material.

‘Black?’ I enquired. ‘I’m not sure that’s an appropriate colour for a wedding. Before we go any further, could I get something to eat? Something sugary would be best. I’m feeling rather shaky.’

The guard’s lip curled. He shook out the material and began to pull it down over my head.

‘A boiled sweet would do!’ I called out before the hood completely covered my face. ‘Even just a barley sugar… I’m sure I saw some below deck.’

He cuffed me on the side of my head and I went reeling. I let out a muffled squeak and righted myself. Although the hood was claustrophobic, it was vital that I stayed calm. Brochan would have understood my message. It was me the Sidhe were worried about so the chances that there was a guard watching Candy now that I’d gone were slim. Brochan would have a good chance of freeing the Wild Man. We needed all the help we could get.

I was hauled up again and elbowed in the back. I stumbled forward, almost completely disorientated. Then I felt myself moving downwards, no doubt onto the gangplank. The wood under my feet felt unsteady and I could hear the sea lapping angrily against the side. I considered pitching to the side and falling in but, between the cuffs and the hood, there was too much that could go wrong. I told myself to act like a good girl. I could still find a way around Aifric’s machinations.

I wished I knew more about Muck. I’d thought there would be time to research it properly before the wedding so any reading I’d done was scanty. I knew it was a tiny island – less than two and a half miles from end to end – and the native population reflected its size. Beyond that, we could have been landing on the moon for all I knew about the place. Its size meant we wouldn’t have far to travel. Given how long it took me before my feet hit solid ground and I left the gangplank that was just as well.