They’re both still asleep. The encounter with that nest of horrors scared Raffi – the shock of it, I suppose. The keeper works him too hard; he can’t be ready for all this yet. And on the ship it was Raffi who did the weather-warding.

That unnerved me. It’s quite clear the Watch have lied to us, and that makes me angry. The Order do have powers and they’re real. It makes me wonder how much else I don’t know. The Watch wants all relics – to destroy them, according to our teachers – and yet, I wonder. What if someone high up wants this power for themselves?

This is heresy, of course. If anyone reads it I’ll be finished. There was a boy once, in the Watchhouse, I forget his name. We were about seven, and it was in the courtyard, the grim stony place they used to let us play in for ten minutes a day. Three of us were under one coat for warmth. He said, this boy, that his grandfather had told him that the Makers were real men, and that their power was enormous. And that he thought the Watch had been wrong to kill so many of the Order.

Someone must have reported what he said, because a week later he was taken away, and he never came back. Like a lot of others…

‘I didn’t know you could write.’

Carys closed the journal with a gasp, and spun around. Galen was sitting up against the wall, watching her. For a moment she was lost for an answer; then Watchtraining surged up in her, she shook her head and laughed. ‘You scared me!’

‘I’m sorry.’

She slipped the journal into her bag. ‘My mother taught me, a long time ago. I don’t know how she learned – probably with one of the Order. There were many keepers when she was young.’

‘Indeed there were.’ Galen frowned, rubbing his stubbly chin. ‘But it seemed to be in a language strange to me.’

For a moment she looked at him. Then she said, ‘It’s in code:

‘Code?’

‘I made it up myself. In case the Watch should ever get hold of it. It’s the story of my search.’

‘Then we’re in there – the boy and I?’

‘Only briefly.’ She shook her head. ‘I’ve changed your names. No one would ever be able to read it.’

‘I hope not.’ He pulled the pack over and began to rummage inside. ‘They say the Watch have men skilled in codes and secret signs. If they caught you with it they’d force you to explain it.’

She nodded. ‘You mean get rid of it.’

He passed her some bread. ‘It would be wise.’

Wanting to change the subject, she said, ‘Shall we wake Raffi?’

‘No. Let him sleep.’