‘Elvie?’ Eldridge’s voice broke into her slumber. ‘Elvie?’

She cracked her eyelids to stare at the world through a bleary haze. Eldridge stood at the end of the bed as he called to her. But that was strange because something also pushed down on her chest and kept her in place.

‘My dear, could you please tell your cat I’m a friend? I think I have enough scratches upon me for the moment.’

She shook the haze away in an attempt to focus. There, on the middle of her chest with his eyes fixed on Eldridge, was her cat.

‘Hello, kitty.’ She patted his back in a dazed fashion. ‘That’s Eldridge – you don’t have to worry about him. He’s nice.’

Her cat – for it was hers – relaxed into the crook of her arm possessively, although his eyes remained fixed upon Eldridge.

‘How do you –‘ He cut off with a small gasp. ‘Dear Lord! Your eyes, Elvie, they’ve changed colour.’

‘What do you mean?’ People’s eyes did not just change colour.

She shifted the cat to between her legs in order to drag her weary body up the bed. Eldridge took a small mirror off the wall and brought it over. His hand shook as he held it before her.

In the mirror, her irises flared with purple. They were the same purple as the cat’s eyes.

‘I guess I shouldn’t expect otherwise.’ He looked exhausted as he thumped onto the bed the end of the bed. ‘You cut it close, Elvie. If there hadn’t been healers nearby…’ He didn’t finish the sentence.

‘But I’m okay?’ Both her arms felt a little sore, but it was not an unmanageable pain. If anything, she just felt tired, like she could sleep another night away the moment her eyes closed.

Eldridge nodded. ‘You are well, even if some things have changed. I cannot fault your bravery but…’ He didn’t finish the sentence again. Elvie wasn’t sure he knew quite what to say.

As she lay in thought, memories of the day assailed her, and tears threatened their way out. ‘The duels… So many dead… My friends Eldridge, do you know if they’re alive?’

Eldridge shook his head sadly. How would he know when he hadn’t ever met them? He reached out to take her hand. ‘Elvie, you’ve suffered through something no young person should ever have to. I know… Let’s just say that I know from my own share of battles the challenges this can create. I’m here to talk whenever you need me.’

Suffered… yes…

She’d killed a man with fire.

I am fourteen, and I have murdered a man…

She closed her mind to the image of his body on fire, but the guilt weighed heavily across her chest. ‘What happened, Eldridge? Why was there an attack? Two attacks! And you knew him; you called him Darius.’

Eldridge ran a hand through his hair and sighed. ‘I only know pieces of this story, Elvie. I haven’t been invited to any of the council meetings. No, I suspect that’s Sir Jennings’ punishment because I kept you secret for so long. But from what I have pieced together, there were two attacks. A plan to sabotage the Duels was laid, which coincided with another to attack the Palace. We faced two enemies, not one.’

‘They attacked the King?’

Eldridge paused. ‘I’m not meant to say anything, but you’ve risked so much that you deserve to know the truth. I was there, in the Great Hall. Darius simply appeared in the throne room, and was moments from attack when the Sentinel intervened.’

She gasped in worry. ‘Is he well?’

Eldridge nodded. ‘Cut up some, but well enough. He is already about. A bed would never hold one such as him for a long time.’

Elvie repeated the part of the question Eldridge avoided. ‘You knew the magician, Eldridge? Darius?’

‘I do. Well, I did once. We went to the Great War as brothers once. I thought he was my friend who had died, you remember, the one I wrote to you about in the letter, when I said I’d be conducting an investigation into Cottsbury Castle?’

Elvie nodded.

‘I believe Darius to have died in that fire, but I’d never really progressed my investigation too far, as my other duties subsumed me.’

‘Darius Vermont,’ she said slowly. ‘That’s who he was, right?’ Poor James. How would he take this? Surely he had no knowledge of what he’d do…

‘The man I fought with in the Great War, that man was a hero, and not the fiend you saw. I don’t know what happened to him, why he came to London, or why he wanted to kill the royal family.’ Eldridge dragged a hand through his dark hair, sighing wearily. ‘There are many unanswered questions, and he wasn’t left alive to interrogate.’

Elvie lowered her eyes; guilt-wracked her as she sobbed: ‘I’m so sorry Eldridge, he was your friend...’

But Eldridge reached past the cat to take her hand. ‘No, Elvie, it was naïve of me to say that. You did what was right, defending those you loved. The man in that room was not the friend I knew – he was gone a long time before. I’m sorry you had to be part of this, my dear. You are young. These events scar. You should never have had to be exposed to any of this.’

Elvie was silent for a long time as she regained her composure. Eventually, she said: ‘One more thing… The rock monster. Who owned the rock monster?’

‘When I saw it, I immediately suspected one specific magician. I knew of him, you see, and I also knew whose employ he had entered. Hmmm… so, yes, Sir Jennings and I had what might be called a heated discussion. He tells me it was there to protect you, and I guess it did at that? Still, I’ve no idea how he knew about you. Did someone else witness your arrival, or does he use magic in ways I don’t understand? It doesn’t matter – either way, he organised the creature to follow you around.’

‘But what was it?’

‘A golem. A mage in the employ of Sir Jennings specialises in them. Sir Jennings has a collection of skilled magicians – the Royal Regiment they call themselves. A motley bunch of magicians who act like mercenaries. For the Crown, they say, but they are bound to the money sustaining them.’

‘I thought… I thought it was attacking me.’ She paused, trying to recall events clearly. ‘At least it appeared to be.’ She tried to picture all the times she’d seen it. Eldridge’s estate. The road at night. The Duels. She’d been scared each time, but had she been threatened or just misread the situation?

Eldridge frowned. ‘I thought it was saving you? It’s what it looked like to me.’

She sought to recall the rapid sequence of events. ‘Everything was… Why would Sir Jennings’ Royal Regiment protect me?’

‘A good question… Elvie, we’ll not get much time, but we need to talk these things through.’ She nodded. ‘It all moves fast – too fast sometimes. I fear that in the day you slumbered and healed, events already outpace us.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Let me ask you this first; are you able to travel home?’

‘Maybe. I’m not sure. I know some spells to make a portal… I could try it after I talk to my friends. I’d want to say my goodbyes first.’

‘You’ll be here for a little while yet?’

She nodded.

‘That’s the problem then. Now Great Britain’s power wanes and is challenged, the world has become the playground all about politics. The likes of Sir Jennings plan and manipulate events to their advantage. I suspect that he has known about you all along. How that occurred, I do not know. But you can guarantee he will – ’

A knock at the door forced him to silence.