She put her hand in his and he raised it to his lips, kissed the back of it. Tanith smiled. “My name is Tabitha. Is this your house? It really is wonderful.”

“Why thank you, Tabitha. Whereabouts in France are you from?”

Tanith laughed. “Toulouse,” she said. “But I’m surprised you noticed. I thought I had lost my accent long ago. I suppose it just goes to show, you cannot hide where you are from.”

“And why would you want to?” Johann asked. “Toulouse is a beautiful part of the world. Some of the most beautiful women are from there, you know.”

“Is that so?”

“That’s what I’ve heard.”

“Mr Starke, I do believe you are flirting with me.”

Now it was Johann’s turn to laugh. “It is only flirting if you’re flattered.”

“Then it is flirting,” Tanith said.

“Tell me, Tabitha, who are you here with?”

Tanith turned her head a fraction. “My friends are over there. Forgive me, Mr Starke, I have gatecrashed. They assured me you would not mind but, well... my friends are notorious liars. But even if you kick me out this very minute, this night will still have been worth it.”

“I think I can forgive you, Tabitha, but only on condition that you call me Johann.”

“Then we have a deal, Johann. Tell me, what does a girl have to do to get a tour of this wonderful house?”

They left the crowd and walked to the furthest wings. The corridors were darker there. They came to a large circular room with glass walls looking out at the dark lake that cut through the forest around them. In this room there were more exhibits.

“Don’t the other guests get to see these?” Tanith asked, walking from one to the next.

Johann smiled. “I’m afraid not. Only very special people get to visit this room.”

“I’m a very special person, am I?”

“From what I can see, yes.”

She smiled. “Are these valuable, then? Worth a lot of money?”

“There comes a point where it stops being about money,” Johann said. “These items are priceless for a variety of reasons.”

“What about this one?” asked Tanith, moving to the central exhibit encased in glass. “This knife?”

“That is a dagger,” said Johann. “And I could tell you had an eye for quality. Have you ever heard of a God-Killer?”

“Should I have?”

“Perhaps not. Eons ago, when the Ancients rose up against the Faceless Ones, they had an assortment of weapons that could hurt them.”

“Oh, I know this,” said Tanith. “My mother used to read me these stories. The Sceptre, wasn’t it?”

“The Sceptre was the ultimate God-Killer, yes, but there were others, too. In particular a sword, a bow, a spear and a dagger.”