‘Wait,’ said Rochant. ‘What about you. What are your strengths? How can you fight back?’

‘I can’t! I’m too small and I don’t have any glowing glass, not like—’ He put a hand over his mouth. He’d been about to talk about the lady with the golden lips. ‘I don’t have anything he’s afraid of.’

‘Listing things you don’t have is a waste of time and energy. Forget them. Focus on what you do have.’

‘Well,’ he lowered his voice to whisper, ‘Crunch,’ then continued normally, ‘is alone and I have you and Tal and Crowflies and …’ He stood up. ‘I know what to do. Tal, you stay here and look after Rochant. I have to lead him away from here. If he hears you, he’ll eat you.’

‘Okay,’ said Tal. ‘What are you going to do?’

‘I’m going to my friendly tree.’

Leaving the castle was a surprisingly brisk, mundane affair for Chandni. There was no fanfare, nothing to mark the moment. Most people were still eating breakfast as she was escorted to the main gates. It left her unsure of how to feel. There was a kind of dignity to this end, and though secret, it lent a quintessentially Sapphire shape to her life. Certainly, her mother would approve. But then again, her mother was dead and the only other family she knew was an aunt who she hadn’t seen since she was a girl.

Lord Rochant’s decision had been so swift, so immediate, that she had only the clothes she’d dressed in. No cloak to protect her from the elements, no walking shoes, no food, nothing. Then it occurred to her that dead women didn’t need to be warm or fed.

As she put the outer wall behind her and walked towards the Bridge of Friends and Fools, the guards stationed there saluted her. If they questioned her leaving, alone and unsuitably attired, they let none of it show on their faces. Silent and dignified, they passed each other with barely a glance. Like the true Sapphire we are.

She stepped out onto the bridge, resolutely refusing to look down. Through the slats it was possible to see the great chasm that yawned beneath Lord Rochant’s castle. Heights didn’t bother her particularly, but looking into that endless drop was like looking into despair, and she didn’t want to lose her composure, especially with people watching.

The wind caused only a slight sway in the bridge, and she quite enjoyed being in the open, surrounded by sky and little else. It puts things into perspective. She was like a tiny cloud, blowing briefly across a vast expanse … Then the bridge jolted under her feet to the sound, behind her, of five paws and two wheels.

Glider!

Varg!

Struck by happiness, then sadness, then guilt, Chandni stopped, not quite able to turn herself to face them.