Grace was very persuasive and Alice was happy to hide her real feelings beneath the shade of fear for her future in this place. Grace stood and offered Alice a helping hand.

She pulled the scarlet wrap from around her own shoulders and placed it around Alice’s. It smelled faintly of cinnamon and the ocean: a warm, crisp, comforting smell. It smelled of Grace. ‘Hold onto this; it is my soul cape and it will give you strength if you begin to waiver. It means that I will always be with you in spirit, even if I have to be elsewhere during the testing.’

‘Soul cape?’

‘It’s a garment gifted to every Protector once they’ve reached a certain point of their training. We all have different colours, based on the colour of the magic we can protect the best.’

‘Hang on … magic has colours?’

Grace nodded.

‘Each person is different, each witch is different, and so the magic presents itself in different ways. I presume you know about elemental magic, or at least of the elements?’

‘Yes, like fire, water, earth, air?’

‘Exactly. So the colour in the soul capes, and in the magic, is based upon the element for which the witch has an affinity. So my soul cape is red, for the fire element, which also means that I can only be assigned to a fire witch.’

‘But … I haven’t even started training. Will it still protect me?’

‘I’ve gifted it to you, as a sign of appreciation, of trust. The cape senses that; it will do its job.’

Alice felt a wave of gratitude. She pulled the soft mantle around her, unable to speak her thanks; the gesture had left her utterly without words.

‘But, hey,’ Grace took her hand, ‘it would be really useful if you could visualise some flames for me in training and unlock your fire magic, because it would be pretty awkward if I couldn’t be assigned your Protector now. You know too much.’ She winked and nudged Alice.

Alice smiled for the first time all morning. She looked herself up and down in the mirror, breathing in and out in an attempt to calm her hammering heart. With this cape’s protection, with Grace’s protection, she felt almost confident.

Eventually, Grace squeezed Alice’s hand. ‘Come on, they’ll be expecting you in an hour. I’ll show you where the kitchens are and you can get some breakfast. Then we’ll go and see the priestess.’ She kept hold of Alice’s hand and they walked together to begin Alice’s journey to becoming a true Sister of Shadow.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Jem sighed, his shoulders slumped and his eyes glistening in the firelight. Lily knew talking about Grace was hard for him, but she was keen to hear his sister’s story. Perhaps it would make her feel closer to Alice, somehow.

His voice grew husky again, but he continued. ‘Morven and Cass joined us around the last winter solstice. They were originally from a place I don’t know, beyond the Shadow Lands. They told us once how differently we live our lives here compared to where they came from. They fight, not with swords or bows, but with things far more deadly; Cass said he once saw a man die, killed by an assailant with a weapon twenty strides away. I asked him how a man could fight with a sword the length of twenty strides, but Cass said they don’t have swords there, not anymore. After the wars, apparently they laughed at us for staying “stuck in our ways” while they advanced and grew their cities. You should ask him about it, when he’s in a good mood. He has some fascinating stories.