Fidele felt her heart lurch at the sight of him. He had lost weight, making the bones of his face more apparent, and there were shadows under his eyes, though he still walked with purpose and confidence, more, if anything. And beneath it all, still her boy, the child she had held and comforted and laughed with. She took a step towards him and stopped herself.

This is a trial and I must be strong. Be seen to be strong. My son is two people: my son, and the high king of these Banished Lands, as I am two people, his mother, and the regent of Tenebral.

Calidus and the giant Alcyon walked at Nathair’s heels, Jehar behind them, moving with the grace and contained power of predators at the top of the food chain.

And behind them all, Lykos, walking with head down, eagleguard either side of him. He was led to the bench Fidele was sitting on and ordered to sit. He did so without any complaint or hesitation. Fidele had never seen him so submissive.

‘Mother,’ Nathair said, and she looked up. Nathair had paused on his way to the empty chair, was staring at her with a faint smile upon his face. Then she was moving towards him, arms rising to enfold him, but something in his look caused her to falter and she stopped before him. He took her hand and kissed it.

‘It is good to see you, Mother,’ he said. He gazed into her eyes, studied her face as if he had forgotten what she looked like. ‘You have changed.’

‘As have you,’ she replied. ‘We have much to tell one another.’

‘And to not tell,’ he snorted with a twist of his mouth.

What does that mean?

‘Nathair,’ Calidus called, a tone in his voice that Fidele had not heard before, and one that she did not like. Commanding. Impatient. She thought of Ektor’s chamber of scrolls deep beneath Ripa’s tower, of the hints she had read about Ben-Elim and Kadoshim. As she returned to her seat her eyes met Ektor’s.

Nathair strode towards the empty chair, saw Veradis and smiled, something of the young man Fidele had bid farewell to returning to his features. The two men embraced, and then Nathair was sitting in the chair, Calidus and Alcyon standing either side, the Jehar spreading behind them.

‘We await two more,’ Veradis said as Nathair opened his mouth to speak.

‘Who is that?’ Calidus asked.

‘Some strange prisoners I encountered in Tenebral,’ Veradis said.

‘What?’ Lykos now, looking concerned, scared even, staring at Calidus. ‘I told you that Calidus must see them privately. They cannot come h—’

The door opened once more, eagle-guard entering first, then the giants Raina and Tain behind them. Iron collars were about their necks, their hands bound.

‘Stop!’ Calidus shouted, the eagle-guard snapping to a halt, the giants stumbling behind them.