‘Why does Simon want you so badly?’
Her words hung in the air. It was something she had wanted to know since she had stumbled upon him in the hold of the Sealgair. Why would Simon capture a dock labourer, have him beaten and chained up? Will looked different now that he was bathed and out of his ragged London clothes, but he was still just a boy.
‘I don’t know. But you heard the Elder Steward. It has something to do with my mother.’ Will looked at the palm of his right hand, which was crossed over with a long white scar. He rubbed a thumb along it, as if unconsciously.
It was more than his mother. It was something to do with him. With what he was. The Stewards had reacted to him with a mixture of awe and fear. Justice had been the same, going to his knees in front of Will the instant he had seen Will’s medallion. Different forces were converging on him, closing on him like a vice.
Before she could ask him about it, Will moved to the window and said, ‘Have you noticed? You can’t see London from the windows.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘You can’t see London. You can just see the marsh, disappearing into a kind of mist. It’s as if this place is hidden away inside a bubble.’
That didn’t make sense. Distracted, she came to stand beside him. And every hair on her arms stood on end at the sight.
There was no sign of London, and the purple marshes faded to a distant blur. She remembered standing on those empty marshes, the arresting ruined arch against the sky. The Hall of the Stewards hadn’t appeared until she had ridden through that arch. Before that it had been invisible. The utter strangeness of that moment struck her anew. She hadn’t thought about what it would look like from the inside. It really was as if they were in a bubble; a pocket; a hidden fold in the world.
‘Does that mean that the gate is the only way in and out?’ said Violet, tension in her voice. It made that lonely arch on the marsh seem even stranger. And made her feel trapped. ‘What happens if you tried to get out another way? If you climbed one of the walls and kept walking?’
‘Your path would bring you back to the wall,’ said Justice, from the doorway.
Violet jolted, turning. Her heart raced at the idea of what he might have heard her say. Tom … Lions … her family …
‘Good morning,’ said Justice.
He was a tall, arresting figure in the doorway. His long black hair was half pulled back from his face in a tight bun, the other half falling down his back. His white Steward surcoat gleamed.
The sight of him made her every nerve come screaming to alert. Where his old-fashioned livery had been incongruous in London, here he fit, part of the otherworldly nature of this place. But he was still a threat. He had attacked her brother; he had attacked Simon’s ship. Her heart was thundering.
He brought me here because he didn’t know what I was. If he knew—
‘Why is there only one way in or out?’ An edge to Violet’s voice.
‘The gate protects us,’ said Justice. ‘Ancient wards hide this place from the outside world, so that a stranger on the marsh can walk around the gate and even pass through it, and never find the Hall. But you may come and go freely.’
‘So – we can leave any time we want?’ said Violet.
‘You are our guests,’ said Justice. ‘You may leave if you wish, to return to London, or simply to ride on the marsh … But if you come back, you will need a Steward to escort you through the gate, as it will only open for one of Steward blood.’
Return to London. A sharp stab, pain and danger. She couldn’t go back to her family, not to visit, not ever. She forced herself not to show what she was feeling on her face, not with Justice standing before her, gazing at her with his warm brown eyes.
It was Will who stepped forward. ‘Neither of us have business in London.’ He didn’t look at Violet but kept his voice steady. ‘For now, we’d like to stay.’
Relief, even as the tension of maintaining the lie stretched out in front of her. When Justice turned back to the door, she and Will quickly met each other’s eyes, and she felt the renewed reassurance of his presence on her side.
‘We live lives of simplicity and order, but I think there are some benefits to life in the Hall.’ Justice gestured for them to follow him. ‘The Elder Steward wishes to see Will but is not quite ready. While you wait, I can show you something of the Hall. Come.’
Violet hesitated. Was it safe? The feeling of being on enemy territory was sharp. But she was curious too. She followed Justice out into the corridor.