There was a glint of respect in Aeneas’s eye, Elissa saw. ‘You deserted your post,’ he said, evenly. ‘I should punish you. Why should we entrust such a mission to you?’

‘I can do it,’ said Silvius. ‘I’m ready. I will prove myself.’ But Elissa saw him playing with the loop of his belt, fingers tightening and then relaxing. She knew what that meant. Half of him didn’t know what he was saying. The other half was white hot.

‘What do you say, centaur?’ Aeneas’s tone was heavy.

Stargazer beckoned to Silvius. ‘There will be one, but there must be more. Does anyone else present themselves?’ Elissa felt a prickle on her neck, and saw Stargazer staring at her with his beautiful wild eyes. Once more she felt that tug of understanding. And Silvius looked so slender, so frail by the side of the centaur.

She knew what the centaur was suggesting. He would need help. And also, that she had some part to play. The image of the dolphin played in her mind, dancing off the shore of some distant coast.

An older soldier, named Achates, stepped forwards. ‘I present myself.’ He was a broad man, but he was beginning to stoop.

‘Very well,’ said Aeneas, a challenge in his voice. ‘My second son and my oldest companion. Is there no one else among my Trojans? Among my wife’s people?’

‘Not among the Trojans.’ Elissa hardly knew what she was saying. ‘I don’t quite know what I am, but I’ll try.’ The pitchy smoke made her cough. She slid her way to standing beside Silvius, greeting him with red torchlight flickering across her mischievous features. He looked at her with something like pain, but she saw also a flicker of gratefulness. She took his hand and squeezed it. He released it quickly.

‘Elissa! No, I don’t think—’ said Aeneas.

‘She has presented herself,’ cut in Stargazer. ‘She will take the test.’ There was no arguing against the centaur. Power vibrated in every word.

Elissa nodded. She had expected that answer. Yet she could also see that Aeneas, used to being obeyed, was finding it hard not to disagree.

After a moment, in which he scrutinised both Elissa and Silvius, making her feel distinctly uncomfortable, Aeneas relaxed, and said, ‘If the gods will it, it will be so.’

‘Then we shall begin the test. You must hold onto the casket for as long as you can.’

Stargazer ordered Achates to go first. The old soldier, smirking a little, looked around, as if expecting some kind of trick. One of the wags in the crowd shouted, ‘Come on, Achates! Easier than conquering the Rutulians!’

He grasped it tightly for a second, and then began to gasp, shrieking in pain. Blowing on his fingers, he hissed, ‘It’s as hot as fire!’ He backed away, seeking for water to pour onto his burnt skin. A shocked silence met him.