“No. The body is in a deserted place. There was only one old man at the pauper’s field, and we didn’t even go back that way. I covered any trace of blood on us that I could see.” She shrugs. “Who would notice a couple of women?”

“You don’t seem too disturbed by watching a man die. Are you very sure he is dead?”

“She hit him here.” Amara gestures at her own neck. “Nobody survives a blow like that. Even if I had never read a book on anatomy, I would know he’s dead.” Victoria cries out again, weeping against Felix. He holds her head to his chest, rocking her back and forth. Amara stares at them both, unable to understand Victoria’s sense of guilt, irritated that she is still crying over such a worthless man. “He tried to kill me, and now he’s dead. There’s nothing to be upset about.”

“You will feel it later,” Felix says. “Everyone does, the first time. Even if you’re a bitch with stone for a heart.”

“What are you going to do?” Amara asks. “We’re all at risk now. All of us.” She is still too afraid of Felix to express her anger, but she feels it. Because of you, she wants to add. We’re at risk because of you.

“First, you don’t tell anyone. Not even Dido. And if you value her life”—he strokes the sobbing Victoria—“you will never mention it again, even to each other.” Amara nods. She knows the killing ties all three of them together, her blood debt to Victoria, the secret they now share. It is not a bond she wants to have. “As for Simo, I can take care of him.”

“We can’t afford to leave it.”

“No,” he says. “We can’t.”

“I didn’t mean to kill him.” Victoria looks round, desperation on her face. “I just wanted him to stop. I didn’t want anyone to die.”

“I know,” Felix says, rocking her again. He kisses Victoria’s forehead, whispering into her hair. “You were very brave.”

Amara looks at her friend, twined around their master like a needy child, unrecognizable from the strong woman she knows. Is this who Victoria really is? The thought makes Amara angry. “It’s nothing to cry about,” she says, her voice loud. “He fucking deserved it.”

“Shut your mouth!” Felix shouts. She sees Victoria shrink from his anger, even though it is not directed at her. He strides over to Amara, taking hold of her shoulders, shoving his face into hers. “She just saved your life. Have some fucking gratitude. Not every woman is a heartless bitch like you.” He lets go of her then scoops Victoria up again, as if protecting her from Amara.