‘This is Stella,’ he says. ‘She’s new to the school. She lives outside the forest with her nan. So I thought I’d show her what she’s missing . . . Stella, this is my mother, Elowen.’

‘Ah!’ She fixes her eyes on me, and the smile meets her eyes. ‘Welcome, Stella. It is good to meet one of Yanny’s school friends. Take a seat, both of you. I’m afraid it’s fish again, and there is no butter, but I have a little rosemary and some oil . . .’ She rummages in one of the cupboards as Yanny and I settle in beside one of his brothers on the bench facing the river, and takes out a dark, round loaf of bread, clattering it on to a board.

‘What about Pa?’ Yanny asks.

‘Resting,’ Elowen says. ‘He had a tricky night last night.’

‘What happened?’

‘Oh, the usual,’ she says, making her voice bright as she dishes food on to plates. ‘Not for worrying now, Yanny. Eat your food. Rest. Your day has been just as full as anybody else’s.’

He visibly unwinds at her words, and I realize there was just a touch of magic in them. The light in the room changes as we start to eat and fills all the corners, becoming a rosy glow that takes the edge off the lines on Elowen’s face. Fin and Ro get into a bicker about who caught the best fish, and Willow stares at me while Elowen tries to feed her vegetables.

Yanny is quiet beside me, and when I look at him, I realize the glamour is fading. His eyes are brighter, his features sharper, and the magic that comes off him is wilder than ever. He flashes me a fierce grin, winking, and my throat is suddenly tight. It’s so warm here, so noisy – so full of life. It’s just how I imagined a big family might be, and even with the tension bubbling underneath, it still feels like a good place. Like home.

Would my family have been like this if my parents were still here? Would there have been this tide of chatter, this easy rest of a hand on a shoulder, of outrage turning so quickly to laughter? Would I have had brothers and sisters had the Plaga not struck? . . .

I force myself to eat while I watch them, and then there’s a clatter and a shout that breaks through all the peace and makes the veins in the walls flicker with red.

Elowen puts a restraining hand on Yanny’s arm as he darts up from the table.

‘No. You have company. I’ll go.’

‘But you’ve been here with him all day.’

‘It’s fine, Yanny.’

‘No,’ he says. ‘Stella wants to know all about the fae; she doesn’t need to be sheltered. I’ll go.’

He rushes up the corridor, and Elowen stares at her plate for a long moment before fixing her eyes on me. ‘His pa is a bit under the weather. He works nights, and Winterspell isn’t an easy place for fae at the moment, especially when the sun has set. You live outside?’