There was an angry black cloud hovering just above his head and his face was dark, tragic, contorted. He looked younger than she had ever seen him, and it was then that she remembered that he was just a boy. Barely eighteen, without guardians to care for him, with his sister missing, and with these children who looked to him like a father. All of that responsibility, all of that worry and torment and pain. Her heart ached for him. Jem Rafferty, the hero to so many children. But who was there to look after him? Who was there to tell him that everything would be okay?

She moved herself closer to him and tentatively placed an arm around his shoulder. When he didn’t shake it off, she pulled him closer, wrapping her arms protectively around him and pulling him into her chest like a child. That was when the tears started. Instead of fighting her like she expected him to, he buried his face in her hair and sobbed, his whole body wracked with raw emotion. Lily wondered when he had last allowed himself to cry, when someone had last held him.

‘It’s all right, it’s all right,’ she crooned softly, stroking his hair and encouraging him to cry every last tear from his eyes. She found herself crying too, and they both sat there, illuminated by the light of the setting sun, clutching each other like lost children.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

‘Ah, so you’ve brought her to us eventually, have you, Grace?’

The priestess towered over them both. Just before they entered the room, Grace had let go of Alice’s hand and now she felt the loss of her comforting strength. She tried to lift her chin to make herself look unwavering, steadfast, when on the inside she felt the same repulsion, the same urge to run as before. Alice had started to enjoy her physical training sessions; she had started to feel muscles beneath the lace of her gown and she no longer found herself out of breath after running a few strides. But she also knew that physical strength couldn’t prepare her for whatever the priestess had planned.

‘You can leave us now,’ she said to Grace, and the girl nodded, glanced at Alice with her kind eyes, and swept out of the room. Alice’s heart dropped to her feet. Why couldn’t Grace stay?

‘What do you want from me?’ Alice asked in a tone that she hoped sounded curious and a little venomous.

‘I want to make you strong, Alice Blackwell. I want to teach you about the powers that lie dormant inside of you. I want to tempt those powers to leave their hiding place. I know you have magic, because you are from a long line of witches.’ The tall woman looked at Alice down the bridge of her straight nose. ‘You may be confused. You may deny the existence of your magic. But…’ she paused, thoughtful, as if trying to work out how much she should divulge, ‘your mother was as powerful as they come. Almost as powerful as me. Not quite,’ she smirked, ‘but almost.’