“I won’t,” Miriam said automatically. Then she looked at Iris again, a long, appraising inspection. Her mother met her gaze head-on, without blinking. “It’s alright,” she said distantly. “I’m not going to stop being your daughter. Just as long as you don’t stop being my ma. Deal?”

“Deal.” Iris dropped her gaze. “I don’t deserve you, kid.”

“Yes, you do.” Angbard looked Miriam up and down. “Like mother, like daughter, don’t you know what kind of combination that makes?” He chuckled humorlessly. “Now, if you will excuse me, Helge, you have made much work for this old man to attend to…”

I should have realized all castles had dungeons, Miriam thought apprehensively. If not for keeping prisoners, then for supplies, ammunition, food, wine cellars—ice. It was freezing cold below ground, and even the crude coal-gas pipes nailed to the brickwork and the lamps hissing and fizzing at irregular intervals couldn’t warm it up much. Miriam followed the guard down a surprisingly wide staircase into a cellar, then up to a barred iron door behind which a guard waited patiently. Finally he led her into a well-lit room containing nothing but a table and two chairs.

“What is this?” she asked.

“I’ll bring the prisoner to you, ma’am,” the sergeant said patiently.

“With another guard. The gate at the front won’t be unlocked again until he’s back in his cell.”

“Oh.” Miriam sat down, feeling stupid, and waited nervously as the guard disappeared into the basement tunnels beneath the castle. The dungeon. I put him here, she thought apprehensively. What must it be like?

A clattering outside brought her back to herself, and she turned around to watch the door as it opened. The sergeant came in, followed by another soldier, and a hunched, thin figure with his arms behind his back and a hood over his head. He’s manacled, Miriam realized.

“One moment.” The guards positioned the prisoner against the wall opposite Miriam’s table. The guard knelt, and Miriam heard something click into place—padlocks. “That’s it,” said the sergeant. He pulled off the prisoner’s hood, then he and the other guard withdrew to stand beside the door.

“Hello, Lin,” Miriam said as evenly as she could. “Recognize me?”