“He seems restless, all of a sudden,” she said. She thought, then continued slowly. “I know it’s bad timing,” she said, “but I find it . . . quite moving. He’s such a . . . an empty presence most of the time, you know? I mean, I know you get to talk to him in private, you know the . . . the real Yagharek . . . But most of the time he’s a garuda-shaped absence.” She corrected herself harshly. “No. He’s not garuda-shaped, is he? That’s the problem. He’s more of a man-shaped absence. But now . . . well, he seems to be filling up. I’m beginning to sense that he wants to do something or other, and doesn’t want to do something else.”

Isaac nodded slowly.

“I know what you mean,” he said. “There’s definitely something changing in him. I told him not to leave and he just ignored me. He’s definitely becoming more . . . wilful . . . if that’s a good thing.”

Derkhan was staring at him curiously.

She spoke slowly.

“You must be thinking of Lin all the time,” she said.

Isaac looked away. He said nothing for a moment. Then he gave a quick nod.

“Always,” he said abruptly, his face collapsing into the most shocking sadness. “Always. I can’t . . . I haven’t time to mourn. Yet.”

A little way away, the road curved and separated into a small clutch of alleys. From one of these hidden culs-de-sac came a sudden metallic bang. Isaac and Derkhan tensed and flinched backwards against the chainlink fence.

There was a whispering, and Lemuel peered around the corner of the alley.

He caught sight of Isaac and Derkhan, grinned triumphantly. He pushed his hands in a shoving motion, indicating that they should get into the dump. They turned and found their way to the tear in the wire mesh, checked that they were not watched and wriggled through into the wasteground.

They moved quickly away from the street and turned corners in the muck, until they crouched in a space that was hidden from the city. Within two minutes, Lemuel came loping after them.

“Afternoon, all,” he grinned, triumphantly.

“How did you get here?” said Isaac.

Lemuel sniggered. “Sewers. Got to keep out of sight. Not so dangerous with the lot I’m with.” His smile faltered as he took them in. “Where’s Yagharek?” he said.

“He insisted that he had to go somewhere. We told him to stay, but he wasn’t having any of it. He says he’ll find us here tomorrow at six.”

Lemuel swore.

“Why did you let him go? What if they pick him up?”