‘We’d only die alongside.’

‘Can we do anything?’

‘We can get the fuck out of here. She’d want that at least.’ He clicked his fingers at Sab, startling her. ‘Fire, girl. Where’s the fire?’

‘What? I thought you meant you …’ Sab swallowed, and looked to her brother. ‘I can run and get a torch—’

‘Nine hells, girl, what were you doing while we were fetching the fucking weapon?’

‘Keeping out of sight! Not murdering anyone! Which is—’

The little Nort appeared between them, dragging the clinking sack. He looked up from one to the other, then to the crossbow in Rennic’s hands.

‘Please?’

Rennic raised an eyebrow but allowed the Nort to take the bow. He placed it flat, then fished in his sack for a few small clay pots and jars. He tapped out a handful of crystals from one, added a powder from another, rubbed his hands together – Chel noticed his palms were pale and smooth with scarring – then applied the mixed powder to the shaft of the bolt. He wiped his hands and held out the crossbow to Rennic.

‘Please?’

Rennic took back the weapon, frowning, and knelt to fire at the stacked fuel against the far wall. The Nort tapped his shoulder, one finger raised, then reached over with a tiny bottle in his hand. Trembling, he tilted the bottle, until a drop of something clear and acrid fell from its lip onto the powdered bolt.

The bolt began to steam, then smoke, and then it burst into flame.

‘Fuck!’ Rennic cried, almost dropping the weapon. Chel and Sabina fell back, recoiling from the alchemical stench. The Nort pointed at the far wall, hands urgent, and despite visible misgivings, Rennic lined up the shot through the caustic smoke.

He fired. The flaming bolt whipped through the air, leaving a plume of curling fumes, almost disintegrating. It smacked into the base of the stack, splintering into flaming shards, and almost immediately the stack began to smoke.

Rennic clenched a fist. ‘Fucking have that!’

If anyone had noticed the bolt’s passage, they made less noise than the clamour of confession. Chel exchanged glances with the others, then looked back to the simmering stack. Already white smoke was curling from within, the dry wood alight, licking at the green above.

‘Let’s give it a moment before people notice the smoke, then—’

The stack exploded. A ring of flame tore out from the base of the wall, a pulse of roaring energy ripping through the eddies of black and white smoke, tearing and stretching the atmosphere around it. A deafening crack split the air as pieces of splintered, flaming wood rained down on the shocked and screaming crowd in the courtyard.

Rennic whipped around, eyes locked on the Nort, the crossbow shaking in his hands.

‘What the giddy fuck was that?’