Senach took his time to answer. “Might not those two explanations be one and the same?” he said eventually. “When you see the thorns that encircle the tower, you will realize that the creature’s plight can be no accident. If it were, and if we could be sure the monster meant us no harm, then it would be a simple matter to cut a way through and set the tower’s tenant free. But the blight its presence casts on the land all around, and the impenetrable nature of the thornbushes, must mean this is indeed a . . . a curse.”

“So you do believe the monster may be more victim than evildoer? That it’s been imprisoned there as a punishment for someone? Perhaps for the whole district? That raises a whole new set of questions.” Had something happened two years ago that had angered the fey? The felling of a special tree, the shedding of blood in a protected place, a blatant flouting of the ways of nature? If that were so, my cleansing ritual might actually have some effect. If I could persuade myself I believed in it.

“The whole matter is riddled with doubt, Mistress Blackthorn. That the fey still walk this land, that they choose to meddle in our lives to such an extent—it is not something folk readily acknowledge, even if they secretly believe it. Father Tomas has never been prepared to accept the idea that a fey curse has caused this. He is more inclined to speak of demons. I am prepared to accept the theory of a curse, though I cannot speculate on who might have pronounced it, or how it might be broken.” He rose to his feet.

“You have work to attend to. I understand. Thank you for talking to me, Senach.”

“Good luck with your investigations, Mistress Blackthorn.”

• • •

“Not much help,” said Grim. “Had a chat about the horses and suchlike. Admired the fellows’ weapons. Got a tour of their quarters, very comfortable. But they don’t go drinking with the locals. Keep themselves to themselves. And none of them has family in the district. So no invitations to go home and chat to someone’s old granddad. Sorry.”

“Not your fault. I didn’t do much better. I learned that Geiléis’s folk would do anything for her. I could have guessed that. And Senach believes what’s happened here is the result of a fey curse. Though he never quite said so. They’re very protective of their mistress. What she doesn’t want them to say, they don’t say.”

Under the pretext of changing into outdoor shoes, I was having a private word with Grim in our own quarters. A quick word; a pair of men-at-arms was waiting in the courtyard to escort us to the Tower of Thorns. I gathered Geiléis would not be coming.

“It seems odd that nobody in the household, including the men-at-arms, has family living close by,” I said. “In fact none of them wanted to talk about family at all, though Dau did mention a grandmother he hadn’t seen for years. I wonder when and where Geiléis hired them, and whether it’s of any importance.”