Just moments earlier, she’d been terrified out of her wits, yet now she was feeling so much calmer.

When she looked closely at the Wolf Queen’s dress, she had to reconsider her theory. The hem was ragged and torn. The frills were ripped and frayed. Her entire outfit including the wolf mask was damaged and dirty.

‘Even I can’t do anything about it. Once the rules are broken it can’t be stopped,’ said the Wolf Queen. ‘That was the condition when I created it. There’s always a price to pay.’

The Wolf Queen pointed the muzzle of her wolf mask towards Kokoro.

‘You, however, will not be eaten. You’ve had a narrow escape.’

‘But the others—’

‘They’re buried. You saw them, didn’t you? Underneath those X marks.’

Ah, Kokoro thought, and shut her eyes.

The Xs did remind her of grave markers.

‘You noticed?’ the Wolf Queen asked with a drawl.

Kokoro thought she knew what she was asking. ‘Um,’ she replied. ‘I think I did.’

‘I see.’

‘Could you tell me something, Wolf Queen?’

‘Now what?’

‘We’re able to “meet”, aren’t we?’

The Wolf Queen fell silent for a moment.

As ever, Kokoro couldn’t see her expression behind the mask: maybe she didn’t actually have a face? The lonely keeper of the castle in the mirror. This wolf mask might be the only face this girl’s ever had.

Was she an enemy, or an ally? Kokoro wasn’t at all sure.

Kokoro pushed her line of questioning a little further.

‘I don’t mean immediately, but at some point in the future, we’ll probably be able to meet. Won’t we?’

‘Only if you get home safely now,’ the Wolf Queen said.

Kokoro took this as a yes. So it’s true, she thought, mulling it over.

‘It’s not my intention for you all to be eaten.’ The Wolf Queen aimed her muzzle petulantly at the ceiling. She turned back to Kokoro. ‘The rest depends on you,’ she said. ‘Oh, and by the way, Aki is currently in the Wishing Room.’ Then, she vanished.

You’ve had a narrow escape.

The Wolf Queen’s words rang inside her head.

AKI’S ROOM WAS CLOSEST TO the grand foyer along the hallway.

Kokoro took a deep breath.

‘No hesitating this time,’ she said quietly.

She was going to save Aki.

She was going to bring that tricky girl back.

To stay in the castle past the agreed curfew was an act of suicide. And yet she’d done it anyway.

Aki’s words always seemed to have a spiteful edge.

So our memories vanish. So what?

It’s OK, isn’t it, if a wish comes true? If someone finds the key, I mean.

If we can’t see each other in the outside world, all we’ll have left at the end is our memories, no? Isn’t that a bit of a waste?

Wow, that’s really something – parents considering your future and stuff. Not like our parents, right, Kokoro?