‘A deal is being made,’ she said. ‘In there. Tonight. A deal that condemns my people, my country to a silent extermination. We came here to speak truth and to prevail upon the decent people to open their eyes to the suffering that they permit. Instead we are given more lies. I could take no more. Nor could my brother. This was done to me to silence his protests. But he will not yield. No matter what they threaten, he will not give them what they want.’

‘What is it they want?’ I asked, feeling her hands grabbing at mine and clutching them to herself like I was a priest giving the last rites.

She closed her eyes. ‘They are waiting for a man. An important man. We were told we would be given the chance to address him – to explain what is happening and what we saw. Instead we are to be silenced. Lies will be told and if we do not cooperate then the killings will continue.’

It broke my heart to see the tears fall. I held her like we were sisters. John just squatted there, his face all grey and poorly-looking. He looked around as if he wanted to find the length of pipe but he gave up in the tic of a clock. What could he do? What could any of us do?

Then we heard it. A perfect pop, like somebody stepping on a brown bag.

And Sera, pushed up against my chest, began to sob.

CORDELIA

A sudden sharp sting at my wrist and then a great chill flood of pain spilling down from my crown. I woke up with a hiss and a groan, the taste of blood on my tongue and a spiteful tingling in my fingertips. Everything felt musty and thick, as if the air were full of grass seeds and feathers. I didn’t open my eyes at first. I feared that if I let even a chink of light in then the lump of pain at the base of my skull would explode like a grenade.

‘Her ladyship awakes.’

Walter Renwick. I felt the words on the bare skin at my neck. He was so close to me it took all of my willpower not to jerk away. Goosepimples rose on my skin where the warm air from his mouth touched my flesh. I realized how cold I was. How uncomfortable. I made fists with my hands, trying to make sense of myself. I felt cords bite into the skin at my wrists. Tried to shuffle my feet and felt the same rough material against my ankles. My bare ankles. My breath came out in a rush as I got the picture clear. I wasn’t naked, not completely, but I’d been tied to a hard-backed chair, arms bound behind my back with my ankles tethered to the chair legs. My boots and socks had been removed. I started to shiver. Started to weep.