‘Jamie would be so mad if he knew I still hadn’t started it,’ she said instead, letting a painful laugh escape her.

Ellie froze, pulling her fingers away, as she turned back into that strange plastic version of herself.

Lottie stared at her princess, feeling the weight of the silence finally crushing her. ‘Ellie, I can’t do this.’ She let out a sigh, preparing herself for the worst. ‘I don’t know what’s going on with you, but we can’t just pretend everything is fine. I won’t.’

Ellie didn’t even look up, but Lottie could see it. Through that blank look there was a small flicker of light.

‘Please, just for a little while.’ Lottie wasn’t sure she’d even heard Ellie speak. ‘Humour me.’

It was the first honest thing Ellie had said since giving her orders back in the palace. She finally looked up at Lottie with that same pleading look, desperate for something Lottie couldn’t understand.

With every bit of willpower Lottie could muster she shook her head, not letting herself give in this time. ‘We can’t do this forever.’ It hurt to say but Lottie pushed through. ‘We had a fight, and we lost Jamie, and Leviathan could be coming at any second, and –’ Lottie’s voice cracked and she took a second to calm herself. ‘It’s one thing to tell me I can’t go after Jamie or Leviathan, but you told me you didn’t want me, so why all this?’

It was the most painful thing she’d ever had to ask, and she could see it hit Ellie in the same way.

Her princess narrowed her eyes, sinking into herself like the moon disappearing behind a cloud. ‘Please, Lottie, I can’t explain it. I just –’ She swallowed hard and Lottie knew she was still hiding something. Lottie was ready to push her, ready to force her to reveal whatever it was, when Ellie said something shocking. ‘Can’t you just be my Portman?’ she whined, sounding distressed. ‘Like back in the first year we met, just me and you and no danger, please – only for a little while.’

Ellie’s hand found Lottie’s, warm soft fingers curling round her own.

Just being Ellie’s Portman was everything Lottie wanted. It meant being part of a family. Even though it was broken and had parts missing, she still wanted somewhere to belong. But it was wrong. What Ellie was doing was odd, and there was something secret and twisted at the centre of it that Lottie had to fix.

Lottie sighed, feeling like a coward for playing along, but she couldn’t let Ellie know what she was up to, and, more than that, she knew she could never say no to her princess. ‘OK, I’ll humour whatever this is until the PoP when we break up for study leave, but that’s it. This isn’t healthy.’