‘Are you nervous?’ Lily asked him, for her own stomach was churning with the fear of the unknown. They didn’t know if they had tracked the location of the Sect correctly, or what they would be faced with when they arrived. Jem was always strong and unflappable, but in this instance, she needed reassurance that it wasn’t foolish to be afraid.

‘I’d be an ignorant fool if I weren’t nervous, Lil. But we’re prepared, aren’t we?’

Lily nodded. ‘Yes, of course. In fact, I’d even say we’re probably overprepared. We have planned for every outcome.’ Then, with a smirk, she added, ‘What could possibly go wrong?’

Jem rolled his eyes at Lily as she dropped her bag down on the table. As the evening winds whipped the waves outside, they both worked by candlelight and the glow from the fire; their faces had a warm orange radiance that crowned them both in a blaze of firelight.

‘Tell me about Alice. I feel like I’ve only really spoken about Grace, but it’s both of them we’re going to save. I’m sorry I haven’t asked sooner.’ His true purpose was distraction. They were both anxious.

Lily looked up, tears sparkling in her eyes. Every time she thought of Alice, an icy iron hand broke through her brittle ribcage and took hold of her warm beating heart, clenching it hard.

‘She’s…’ Lily paused, trying to find a single word that defined her best friend, her Sister of Shadow. ‘Rare. She’s a rare gem, glittering amongst dull rocks and blunt metals. She shines: her heart glows like a cold star, the brightest in any constellation. She’s a force of darkness itself; she is fierce and strong, but she is also really vulnerable. She has always been desperate to find her roots, to connect with her lost parents and the magic that she wanted so dearly.’

‘Magic?’

‘She was never able to connect to it, unleash it, I guess. If she even had it at all. I didn’t believe in any of it before I set off on this journey. But she always did. She leant heavily on her tarot cards and tea leaves. I think she felt that if she could make herself useful in telling the future, in predicting events, then she could lead herself to her own destiny. Find it, in her way. I used to read stories to her when we were little.’ She smiled, despite her heartache. ‘She always hated the part when the princess was set off to meet her destiny by a person who told the princess what her destiny should be. She used to say “Why believe the ravings of superstition and fate when you could forge your own path and make your own destiny?” and I guess she had a point, but it’s only recently that I’ve come to understand what she meant.

‘I think, for a long time, I was expecting her to up and leave, in search of her family, of her roots, of her magic. But not like this, not stolen away in the night. That, surely, is the opposite of making your own destiny. It’s trying to fit in with someone else’s.