She gave him the briefest look, her own eyes tearful.

‘Her little brother.’ She wiped an eye. ‘What in hells happened back there?’

Chel shook his head. ‘I think we made things worse.’

Sab looked over her shoulder. ‘Your friend the reaver is following us.’

He looked back. Brecki was slouching along behind, pale and lean, eyes fixed on nothing. Chel tried to force a carefree smile, but inside he felt only regret, and dread.

They walked on in silence. From somewhere behind them came Lemon’s voice, muttering away to Foss as they trudged.

‘I’m just saying, maybe no weapons in meetings from now on, and more than one emergency exit, eh?’

FIVE

They camped in the lee of another hillside beneath a wine-dark sky. Despite Rennic’s command to go without a fire, Lemon insisted on a small one and he lacked the energy to overrule. They ate sparingly, huddled around the delicate flame.

‘So, what now?’ Tarfel asked quietly. Chel looked around the makeshift camp. Everyone looked exhausted. It had been scant days since they escaped the citadel, but they’d already made new enemies to add to the old and were once again on the run. Chel couldn’t remember the last time tension hadn’t knotted his shoulders.

The prince was still cloaked, the hood pulled over his face, as if he had become mortally afraid to show any of himself to the world. He’d been sitting off to one side, too far from the fire, and he was trembling now, either from cold or existential terror. No one seemed able to answer him.

At last, Rennic puffed out his cheeks. ‘We have a few options, although we need to put distance between us and that clusterfuck earlier. Avoiding Roniaman would be wise, most major populations centres, to be honest. Your brother is going to be looking for you, as are some of our vanished friends from today.’

‘Are the Rau Rel finished?’

‘In this incarnation, yeah, perhaps.’

‘Then where?’ Tarfel’s tone was surprisingly insistent. ‘Where are we going to go?’

Rennic spread his hands.

‘I’m not … well, I hadn’t exactly … thought about it. Precisely.’

‘Well, I have, all right? It’s all I can think about!’ The prince waved an angry hand. ‘I’ve had people trying to kill me now for … months! Even my own brother had a go, for all I know – he seemed perfectly blasé about the concept at least. Do you know what that’s like? To have people, people you know, people you’ve never met, actually trying to kill you? Trying to hurt you, end your life? Out of nowhere? Knives to your throat, axes, swords, spears!’

Rennic nodded slowly, a mirthless smile on his face.

‘I’ve some idea, yes.’

‘Well, I didn’t! And I shouldn’t have to! I’m not part of this, I want nothing to do with it!’

Loveless waved an equivocal hand.