‘She’s dead,’ Garval said bluntly. ‘Your sister. Or might as well be. Bosa’ll use her up and spit her out. You think they didn’t tell me what Bosa’s capable of? You need to stop thinking about your sister. She was kind to me, but I can’t help her, and I can help you. You hide. Sit tight and quiet. Bosa doesn’t want this ship, she wants two readers. Once she’s got them, she’ll leave.’

‘She said she’d tear the ship apart until she finds me.’

‘Only if she thinks she hasn’t already got you.’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘You were kind to me as well, Fura. I’m sorry about all the screaming.’

Some inkling of what she meant to do formed in my mind. ‘No!’

‘Quiet. You get in that hole before it’s too late. I’ll seal you in good and tight. You wait a day at least, two if you can stand it, then you get out. Bosa’ll be gone by then.’

‘No,’ I said again, but softer this time. ‘You don’t have to do this, Garval. You can still go home.’

‘There’s no home for me, Fura. The skull cracked me open like an egg. What’s broken can’t be put right. Even Rackamore knew that. He was just making the right noises, saying they’d get me back eventually. It was never going to do me any good.’

I edged my way into the hole, trembling at the thought of being sealed in, and of how long I might have to remain there.

‘I won’t forget this.’

‘It’s not about forgetting me. It’s about remembering Bosa Sennen. If the chance ever comes for me to slip a knife into her throat, I’ll do it. But it probably won’t. You, though . . .’ She paused, measuring me up, as if at the last instant she’d called her own judgement into question. ‘You’ll remember. I know you will.’

I was in the hole. There was space to either side of me, stretching away into darkness. I had to draw my knees up high to fit into the gap. It was already uncomfortable, and I’d only been inside for seconds.

Garval reached out and took my hand.

‘Move,’ she said, before allowing our fingers to slip apart. ‘I’m sealing you in. Good luck, Fura.’

‘Good luck, Garval. When you find my sister . . . you’ll tell her I’m all right, won’t you?’

‘Of course.’

‘And that I won’t forget her. I’ll find a way to get her back.’

‘I will.’

Garval slid the panel back into place. There was an outline of light, Garval’s fingertips on the edges of the panel, then darkness.

TWO

TWO

JASTRABARSK

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