And then the horn sounds. A golden ripple that takes our breath away and bursts through the shadows, just for an instant, as Rory calls the new day, and the trees shift, the birds lifting in flight.

We venture in, through the narrow path that twitches at every corner with creatures awakening. As the horn fades, the shadows creep back in, and they come thick and fast, unfurling in the winter air. I’m turned around so quick, that before I know it, Zara is leading the way, Peg barking out instructions I can barely hear through the growl of the wolves and the screech of the shadow birds that loom down from outstretched, blackened branches, their forms twisted and elongated.

‘Focus!’ Peg snaps at me. ‘Can’t leave your friend to do this alone. Now is the time, Stella.’

I take a long, deep breath, put my fingers on the silver-and-gold acorn, and keep my eyes trained on Zara. The shadows retreat to the corners of my eyes, and I watch as Teacake darts back and forth before us as if she’s testing out the ground – perhaps she is.

Peg digs his claws into my shoulder, and we keep going until the path widens, and daylight streams into the clearing around the wildest part of the river, where the shadows are afraid to roam. They still flick and whisper through the branches of the trees, but in this space, there is clear air, and the rush of silver water sounds like hope.

Teacake halts here and stares up at me, as if waiting for me to act.

‘Where’s the palace, Peg?’ I whisper.

‘I don’t know where it is,’ he says. ‘That’s the whole point, Stella. Nobody does. Nobody has been able to find it, all this time. I did try, before I was banished . . .’

‘You never did say why – perhaps now is the time? Who banished you? The shadows?’

He huffs, letting out a sulphurous cloud. ‘Not them. No. The head of the council, Rory.’

‘The centauride,’ whispers Zara, her eyes round. ‘She banished you? Oh dear.’

‘Why oh dear?’ I ask. ‘I know she’s fierce, but . . .’

‘I read about her in one of your books. She’s the head of the fae.’

‘But the king and queen—’

‘No. Well. Yes, they ruled. But after the shadows came, the council was formed to fight them and to rule Winterspell . . . They’re the ones with the real power now. They protect the fae people against the shadows, as much as they can.’

‘What book did you find that in?’ I ask.

‘Well,’ says Zara, ‘I also talked to someone who knows about it all—’

‘Anyway,’ says Peg. ‘Yes, it was Rory who banished me, but she was angry at the time. Perhaps she’s forgotten—’

Laughter rings through the clearing, and the flowers that nestle in between the roots of the ancient trees bloom blue and yellow and violet. And Rory is there. She moves towards us, and the air gets thin, and her dark eyes spark.