She washed, prayed and allowed herself a slow bath. Even if the Savoy Inn’s sanitary ware was peeling at the edges, the water was hot and she could stretch out her legs. She thought of Patrick’s arms retrieving her. ‘You went too far.’ She tried to remember his expression at that moment; it wouldn’t come.

A coded warning? ‘Don’t go too far again.’

Chapter 7

7

2006

‘Move faster! You don’t wanna keep the Adviser waiting.’

The end of the darkened passage emerged into a small courtyard. The sky was a clear blue, the sun hiding behind a slate roof to the east; below, greyish bricks and mullioned windows, a fanlight over a charcoal front door. As before, he could see no further – the courtyard walls were the screen now. He imagined hills and green fields, valleys and crystal streams, but there was no evidence of them, nor of where he might be. No people with accents or different-coloured skins, no road signs, no markings. No lights in the house.

They turned away to a carriage door opposite. It swung open, apparently of its own will; they entered a vaulted space, brightly illuminated with lamps hung high on thick oak beams. He shielded his eyes, adjusting from the days of dimmed solitude. On a platform at one end stood a long thin table, three figures looming over it. His guard gestured him to climb the steps and face them.

He took up his position and the seconds passed, perhaps even a minute – he’d lost all sense of time. He brought the three figures into focus. In the middle a tall, thin man with thick black hair unmarked by white or grey and a neatly trimmed beard was dressed in a flowing white robe, his cheek and jaw well-defined, neck and chin creaseless. A contrasting image of straggly-haired, grey-bearded, pot-bellied imams flashed before Sami and he felt ever more uncertain of what he was facing. To the left was a fair-skinned woman swathed in silky yellow, crowned by a light blue scarf; round the edges he could detect wisps of wavy blonde hair. Her azure eyes glistened like jewels and her straight delicate nose flowed seamlessly into full, unadorned lips. Even from where he stood, he smelt her sweetness. Starved of company for three eternal days, he thought they were the most beautiful couple he had ever seen. To the right, a different shape – burly and dressed in black, a rough bristled face, thick eyebrows hooding cold eyes and a flat nose with gaping nostrils.