‘I’ll show you around now, if you like? Then we can go to my study and start to forge a plan of attack.’

He stood and pushed up his shirt sleeves which had unrolled slightly, then ran a hand through his hair. Lily noticed that he did this involuntarily every time he needed to speak, or whenever he was aware that he was being watched. It didn’t seem to be a vanity habit, more like a twitch of acute self-consciousness.

‘Everyone else: can you make sure this is all cleaned up and we have some warm food to eat in a couple of hours? There should be everything you need to make a stew in the pantry. Cass,’ he turned to the boy, ‘I’m putting you in charge.’ The boy puffed up his chest. ‘Shout us when dinner is ready, all right?’ Cass nodded, and then Jem led Lily back out of the warm light of the main room and into the cold corridor beyond.

They walked in silence for a few steps. Lily was bursting with questions, but something about his aura made her hold back. He struck up a casual conversation, perhaps sensing Lily’s quizzical gaze.

‘That wasn’t so bad, was it?’

Lily took a deep breath and sighed, noticing the difference the honey had made to her raw throat.

‘No,’ she answered, ‘not too bad.’ She smiled at him as they walked out into the courtyard. He was a full head and shoulders taller than her, and in the dim light, looking up at him made her head spin. The conversation had died completely and neither of them tried to start it up again. They both had deep questions to ask, information to gather, yet Lily didn’t feel like the moment was right.

Silence fell between them.

Chapter Twenty-One

Alice jolted awake. It was still the dead of night, but something had disturbed her exhausted slumber. She sat up, listening in the darkness. Every creak, every gust of wind was deafening. Alice sat there, as still as a statue, for what seemed like an eternity. Just as she was about to shake her weary head and put the noise down to a vivid dream, Alice heard it again. A quiet but unmistakable knocking sound.

There was someone at her door.

She took a deep breath and went over to the oak vestibule, too groggy to be worried about her safety and too curious to try and sleep without discovering the source of the knocking. After yesterday, there were very few things she could actually muster up the energy to be fearful of.

She pulled open the door and her heart gave an involuntary leap. Grace was leaning against the doorframe, smirking. She was holding a tray that was piled with food, a couple of mugs, and a large steaming teapot.

‘Midnight feast?’ Grace winked.

Alice managed a half-smile and the exhaustion that had been weighing her eyelids down floated away the instant she smelled the food. Alice waved Grace into the room and invited her to place the tray down and sit on the bed. Alice joined her and they sat across from each other, cross-legged.