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He heard, distantly, a shouted command: Kyle-Ott. The horsemen fanned out. But there was no need for them to chase, as Tealeaf and Pearl walked from the bush. Hari saw them move towards the setting sun, saw horses surround them and Kyle-Ott dismount. Tealeaf seemed unconcerned, even when Kyle-Ott forced her to kneel. What was he doing? Tying something around her eyes? He must know, somehow, that she had powers to control other people, and think it came from her cat eyes. He did not blindfold Pearl, although his men kept her and Tealeaf covered with their bolt guns.

Hari climbed down and used the last few minutes of light to work his way through the bush. As darkness fell, sudden, complete, he reached the edge above the gully.

Kyle-Ott’s men had gathered scrub to make a fire, and they sat about it eating a meal. Kyle-Ott sat by a smaller fire, with Tealeaf, blindfolded, and Pearl sitting with him. Tealeaf had her arms tied. Pearl was free.

Further up the gully, Hari made out the sound of horses. They must be tethered there, with someone guarding them. One man? Two? He would have to wait until the moon came up.

And by that time he needed to be much closer than this.

He called silently for the dog.

Kyle-Ott’s teeth gleamed in the firelight. ‘It gives me no pleasure to see you broken, Pearl. There was a time when I thought you might serve as a bride for me. Radiant Pearl is a name that suits you. But alas, my father had first choice.’ He leaned forward and smiled. ‘At least you did not dishonour me. I warn you, he is angry, my father. It will not be a pleasant time for you.’

‘I’m not afraid,’ Pearl said, although she was.

Kyle-Ott – seventeen summers, he was not much older than Hari – stirred the fire with a stick.

‘He gave me this task, to bring you back, and I will complete it. I am the youngest son, Pearl. Chasing a runaway bride is fit for me. So my brothers think. While they –’ he made a savage lunge with the stick, scattering flame – ‘they concern themselves with greater things. But they are fools, Pearl. He uses them as weapons, to stab and slash, and keeps me hidden away.’ His voice sank to a whisper. ‘I am his favourite. When I return to the city . . .’ He completed the sentence with a smile.

Tealeaf’s voice sounded in Pearl’s head: Ask him what is happening in the city.

Why? What does it matter? Pearl said.

He keeps it hidden. I need to know. His vanity will make him talk. Be afraid, if you can. Flatter him.

Pearl grimaced inwardly. She set herself. ‘Isn’t there some way . . .?’ she faltered.

‘What, Pearl?’ he said softly. ‘To save you from the fate you have deserved? You’re a pretty thing and would look . . .’ he sought for words ‘. . . charming at my side. But there will be plenty more – and you belong to my father.’ He made a false shrug. ‘It is sad.’

‘But your father is only one man, and if you petition Company . . .?’

‘Ah, Pearl,’ he smiled, ‘you haven’t heard. There are changes, great changes in the city. Even as we sit here it is done, this very night.’ His face suddenly grew ugly. ‘And I’m chasing a stupid girl. I’d rather run my hounds at you like some burrows rat.’ He brooded. ‘The world is overturned, and I sit here.’

‘But your father . . .’ Pearl whispered.

‘My father keeps me safe. I’m his right hand. Or soon will be, when I bring you back. Did you know –’ he hesitated, then made a decision and grinned at her – ‘Company has fallen? My father was the one who saw it coming; he read the signs, while all the other fools, Bowles and Kruger and Sinclair, all of them, sat blind and fat and happy, and spent their money on their pretty daughters and couldn’t see what was under their noses. But my father – he has spies and informers everywhere, even over the sea. There have been no ships for many months, did you know that, Pearl? Your father saw, but he took no notice. No trade. No message. Only Ottmar understood. He learned the reason long before the others. The rabble rose up in those great lands. They overthrew Company, and now a thousand petty rulers sit on thrones and fight each other. Darkness there, Pearl. Darkness. My father saw it creep on the horizon. It will last for a thousand years. He alone saw. And he was ready. There is no Company in our land any more. There is a king. A great king.’

‘Who . . .?’ Pearl managed to say.

‘King Ottmar. And when my brothers are gone – and he will see to that – I will be his heir. Kyle-Ott.’

‘But my father? My family? My brothers?’

‘He may find a use for them – although House Bowles is out of favour, Pearl, thanks to you. But who knows? If not – there’s an old tradition of throwing traitors from the cliffs.’

‘You’re lying. You’re making it up.’

No, Pearl, Tealeaf said, he’s telling the truth. There haven’t been any ships, and now we know the reason. Ottmar seized his chance. Ask this foolish boy what the new king will do.

Pearl swallowed. She thought of her proud father and mother locked in dungeons. She thought of her sister, Blossom, and her brothers, William and George. They would not bow down: stupid, spoiled, greedy, they would fight. But mostly she thought of the woman, Tilly, who had sheltered her and Tealeaf. What would happen to Tilly and her husband and baby? With Ottmar as king, they would be slaves. Kyle-Ott moved on with his boasting but Pearl scarcely listened.

Tealeaf said, ‘What will King Ottmar do in the city, in his lands?’

‘Ah, the Dweller has a voice. But no eyes, Dweller. My father learned the secret of that. You can make men sleep, and make them do things against their will. He asked me to bring you back so he can find out why. My father will be a great king.’

‘What will he do in his lands?’ Tealeaf repeated evenly.

‘He will rule.’ Kyle-Ott closed his fist. ‘Like that. There is room only for one voice. One man. He will cleanse the land. He will scour the burrows, wipe out the vermin there, build Ottmar, a city worthy of our family name, where he and I can rule and no other voice be heard. That is the way. With strength. Without pity. Does it please you, Dweller?’

‘I believe you’ll try,’ Tealeaf said. ‘What of my people?’

‘Ah yes, beyond the mountains, in the forests, where you live like swamp-rats. We have heard of you. Company hasn’t found a use for Dwellers. But Ottmar and Kyle-Ott will come. Our armies will come. You will bow down. Meanwhile, when I take you back, we will break you open and learn your secrets.’

He called a man from beyond the firelight. ‘Tie her blindfold tighter. Bind her arms tighter. And tie the girl now. Watch them all night. Don’t let them speak.’

‘We haven’t found the boy, Lord,’ the man said.

‘No matter. He has burrowed in some hole. Let him starve.’

Two men raised a small tent, emblazoned with the Ottmar coat of arms. Others bound Tealeaf tighter and tied Pearl’s hands and feet. They pushed them down on the ground and threw a covering over them – ‘I don’t want you frozen,’ Kyle-Ott said. ‘My father asks for you in good condition. But consider, Pearl, this bed of stones is more comfortable than any you will know for the rest of your life.’ He turned to his sergeant – ‘Guard them’ – and retired to his tent.

Pearl and Tealeaf lay side by side. The moon came up and sat in the bowl of hills like an orange, then climbed lazily into the sky.

Is it true? Pearl asked. Everything he says?

What is happening now, back in the city, yes, it’s true. And over the sea. True, I suppose. But what he says about the future – we’ll see.

King Ottmar?

Yes, King Ottmar.

He’ll be worse than Company.

He’ll be different. Now wait a while, Pearl. Sleep if you can. Don’t watch for Hari. He’ll choose his time.

What will he do?

I don’t know. But I can feel him close. We’ll wait and see. Sleep now.

She said it the way she had when Pearl was a child, when it had drifted her away dreamlessly, but Pearl resisted now. She tried to feel Hari. If he came to rescue them she meant to be awake, not lying like a parcel to be untied. The man who had bound her had been nervous – she was, after all, the daughter of a great house, Bowles – and she had gasped and shrunk as though he hurt her, so the cords were not as tight as he might have made them.

Pearl turned and sighed and pretended to sleep, with her back to the fire. The watchmen yawned and dozed, but one always seemed to be awake. Why couldn’t Tealeaf put him to sleep? And Pearl could do it herself, if she tried. She was sure of it. Instead she worked with slow movements, pulling one wrist back against the other, then reversing it.

You’ll only tighten the knots, Pearl, Tealeaf said.

No, I won’t. If I can use my teeth . . .

She rolled again and used the movement to bring her wrists up to her face.

‘Sleep, girl,’ growled a guard.

‘I’m trying,’ she said.

She worked with her teeth, covering the bites with little sobs, as though she was crying and wiping her eyes.

Tealeaf, I’ve done it. My hands are free.

Don’t try your feet. He’ll see that.

Where’s Hari?

At the horses.

Are you talking to him?

Listen and you’ll hear. Forget your knots.

Hari, she whispered.

From far away his voice came back: Keep quiet, you.

Hari, we left the dog in the bush.

I called him. He’s here.

Pearl sighed, then felt a sharp pain, a stabbing like a needle, behind her eyes.

Tealeaf, what happened?

Nothing.

I felt it. Tealeaf – has he . . .?

He had to throw his knife, Pearl. The man guarding the horses saw him.

He could have put him to sleep.

He wasn’t sure he could do it. And he didn’t have time.

No time, Hari’s voice echoed. I tried not to . . .

Hari, Tealeaf said, be still a moment.

I couldn’t . . . there was nothing . . .

Be still.

A moment passed – no voices, no sound but ash falling in the fire.

Is he all right? Pearl said.

It goes against a dream he had. He doesn’t want to kill.

They lay still, waiting, and in a moment Hari’s voice spoke again: The horses are afraid of me. The man was their friend. I’m trying to make them calm.

Beyond the large fire, where the men of the squadron lay sleeping, a horse whinnied. The guards at the smaller fire woke from their doze.

‘Fangcat?’ one of them whispered.

‘They’d be bolting if it was,’ the sergeant said. ‘More likely a dog.’

They listened, and two or three more whinnies came through the moonlight, followed by a trampling of hooves.

‘Something’s spooking them. You two go and see,’ the sergeant said.

‘What if it’s a cat?’

‘Use your guns.’

Hari, Pearl said, two men are coming.

I can’t make the horses trust me. I’ll have to stampede them, he replied.

Drive them through the camp. Use the dog, Tealeaf said.

I’m cutting their tethers. Get behind the fire. I’m thinking fangcat.

Terrified whinnies and shrieks rang out. Hoofs thundered. The men by the large fire jumped to their feet. The sound of hooves increased, like a storm rolling out of the sky. The guards by the small fire ran to the larger one. Kyle-Ott scrambled from his tent, struggling into his shirt.

‘What’s happening?’ he shrieked, his voice breaking into a falsetto. He ran after the guards – and the horses burst like a black wave over the crest of the moonlit slope and ran at the fire.

Pearl worked at her bound feet, while Tealeaf rolled into the protection of the fire. Pearl freed her feet, ran to her and plucked off her blindfold. She started on her hands, then saw that Tealeaf had almost freed herself.

The horses broke on either side of the large fire, scattering men, bowling them like dummies. Kyle-Ott, his hands held high, shouted commands, and some of the men tried to clutch the horses’ manes as they thundered by. Kyle-Ott tried, but the horse he ran at sent him reeling backwards, and another knocked him sideways into the fire, where he scrambled, howling, through the embers.

The leading horses reached the smaller fire and broke around it. They trampled Kyle-Ott’s tent into the ground. Pearl and Tealeaf huddled close to the dying flames, but one horse, finding no path, leaped across, and his flying hoof struck Tealeaf on the forehead. She fell in a heap.

‘Tealeaf,’ Pearl cried, but the Dweller made no sound.

The horses were gone, rolling away like a dying storm.

‘Chase them. Find them,’ Kyle-Ott cried. He ran after his men a few steps, then turned back; he advanced on Pearl, with smoking clothes and maniacal face.

‘She did this. The Dweller.’

In a frenzy he searched in his trampled tent, found his stabbing sword, tore it from its scabbard and ran at Tealeaf. Pearl rose to face him. She glimpsed Hari and the dog running by the scattered embers of the larger fire. Hari had his knife out, ready to throw, ‘No,’ Pearl cried, and cried again: No.

Hari lowered the knife.

Kyle-Ott was three steps from Tealeaf, his sword raised two-handed. Pearl stepped over her friend, sheltering her. She looked into Kyle-Ott’s burned face, into his eyes.

Stop there, she ordered him. Be still.

He reeled as though he had run into a wall. He stood swaying, with his mouth wide and eyes unfocused.

Put down your sword.

He obeyed.

Gather your men. Find your horses. Go back to your city. Do it now.

He turned away.

Kyle-Ott, Pearl said.

He turned back.

Tell your father he will never be king.

She did not know where those words came from, but repeated: Never. Tell him that. Now go.

Kyle-Ott stumbled away.

Hari advanced to the fire. ‘You should have made him walk all the way.’

‘Help me with Tealeaf.’

The Dweller woman opened her eyes. For a moment her cat pupils were almost round, then they narrowed to their usual shape. Pearl searched for her pack, found a water sac and helped Tealeaf drink. She told her what had happened, what she had done with Kyle-Ott.

‘They’ll come back for their gear, though, and their wounded.’ Hari indicated half a dozen trampled men. ‘So let’s get out of here.’

They took nothing but their packs from Kyle-Ott’s camp. With Pearl and Hari helping Tealeaf by turns, they went along the gully and climbed towards the foothills. The moon crossed the sky and dropped below the horizon. The sun came up and poured its light down the mountain slopes.