The music finished, and as Loveless stalked away from Matil, Chel ran the melody back through his head and it all clicked into place.

‘God’s balls,’ he said as she passed him. ‘You’re the White Widow.’

The ferocity of her glare could have punctured his skull. ‘You’re mistaken. That’s some bint in a song.’

‘They played it … She told them to play it when she saw you. That’s your song?’

‘It’s nothing to do with me.’

‘That’s why Rennic won’t let anyone play it – because you don’t like it? Come on, isn’t it flattering? A beauty who so adored her lost love that her hair turned white overnight when he died?’ He stared at her hair as he said it, its constant changing of colour taking on new meaning.

‘I prefer “ash blonde”,’ she said, voice controlled but eyes burning.

‘But—’

‘That song is propaganda. And the truth of it, cub … The truth is … sordid, and vile. Let a song be a song, but don’t confuse it with a life.’

For once, Chel ignored Lemon’s cautions on the pursuit of intimates. ‘What really happened, then?’

The slightest softness entered her eyes as they drifted, then her gaze hardened once more. ‘You want the true story? Here it is: when I was young, all my choices were made for me, until one day I made one of my own.’ Two fingers traced the scar at her temple. ‘Now leave me the fuck alone.’

She marched from the room, leaving the others standing around, staring at each other in bafflement. Matil’s mood seemed improved by her exit, and she turned to Kosh.

‘It looks like you will be staying with us for a time after all,’ she said. ‘Now, what other tricks do you have?’

TWENTY-SIX

Officially, the tour was for Tarfel’s benefit, but it was to Kosh that Matil directed her words.

‘Our workshops are the envy of the civilized world, as you can see. From the wind-drivers above and the water mills below, we combine the power of the elements with the latest in machinery—’

Even over the hiss of steam and clanging of metal, Chel heard Kosh’s disdainful sniff.

‘—to produce fine-milled steel, here within the city. Our cavalry, house guards and archers are the finest-equipped force across the mountains and the plains. With our steel and stonework, we have kept the tribal raiders long at bay, allowing ever-more intensive farming across the expanse and the formal protection of the trade roads. And you have seen Korowan, our jaws on the throat of the southern pass. Arowan controls the trade for six regions and provides protection to an ever-growing area of the expanse. We have the finest artisans, the greatest merchants, the most advanced production of arms and armour.’