Once they were out of earshot, she turned back to Lottie, her expression blank and unreadable, like a mask of her own face. ‘Samuel will be escorting us,’ she continued, as if this was all completely normal. ‘I know it seems unexpected, but the choice has been made that –’

‘This isn’t right,’ Lottie snapped. Ellie was supposed to be on her team. They were supposed to save Jamie together. ‘This isn’t right and you know it. We need to be looking for Jamie. We can’t abandon him!’ She felt the ring in her pocket, her last remaining hope.

Ellie had her back to Lottie now, hiding her face.

‘Ellie, listen to me,’ Lottie said. ‘We need to get Jamie back before –’ Her words caught in her throat like a bone, as something she hadn’t considered crawled up through her tangle of thoughts. Jamie would tell them that Ellie was the real princess, and if he did, where would that leave Lottie?

‘Claude can’t find out about you. This is urgent, and we need to act now before –’

Ellie turned on her, her robe whipping around her like a tornado. ‘Don’t you get it, Lottie? It’s over.’ Shaking her head, she rested both hands on Lottie’s shoulders, pleading with her not to push the topic. ‘It’s already too late.’

What was over? What did she mean?

Ellie took a deep shaking breath, calming herself. ‘My parents and I have made a decision that we think is for the best.’ She paused now, squeezing Lottie’s shoulders until it almost hurt. ‘We’ve decided to handle Jamie and Leviathan ourselves. You are forbidden from going after him or Claude.’

Lottie pulled herself out of Ellie’s hands. ‘Why?’ she whispered, but when she looked at her princess there was nothing cold or certain about her order; there was heat behind her eyes, tears ready to spill over, and the question soon got lost.

‘Please, Lottie.’ Ellie gulped, every inch of her working not to break down in front of her. ‘Let’s just go back to school and finish our exams before it all comes crumbling down around us, OK?’

Lottie was sure there was something more that Ellie wasn’t saying, but the look she gave her was so painful, all her bravado chipped down to the scared girl that lay beneath, that Lottie was unable to push it.

How could she not go after Jamie? How could Ellie expect her to drop all her research on Leviathan’s plan? It wasn’t possible, yet the idea of fighting Ellie on this now was equally as impossible.

‘OK,’ Lottie said, swallowing down the hurt she felt, knowing that if she wanted to help Jamie she was on her own. ‘If you think this is for the best, I’ll do whatever you order.’ She didn’t bother putting on a smile; there was no way of hiding how she felt.