“We will meet again,” Bean Nighe said with a glittering smile. It probably would have made some men swoon, instead it made Sam feel sick. The fae eyes ruined the image.

He nodded and scrambled back through the hole as quickly as he could. It felt as though he had made a mistake, but he couldn’t figure out how. How could washing go wrong? As soon as he was out of her view, he began to run. It was with the pure instinct of a rabbit running from a fox. He had to get away – he had to – back to people. The river of blood remained imprinted in his mind’s eye.

Pain blossomed across his forehead, and he fell back.

Stars burst in his eyes and he sat up, realising that he’d just ran straight into a tree branch. Blood trickled down his forehead. He wiped it away with the back of his head and continued, struggling to catch his breath.

It seemed like an age before he heard the bray of the horses. Before he saw the shadows of Elexander and Lefrich. That made his heart leap into his mouth and he quickened his step. They were there, leaning against the trees and talking in low voices, just as he had left them. He could have hugged them.

It must have been evident from the look on his face, because Lefrich smirked when he spotted him.

“Did you have a nice time?” he asked, sarcasm lacing his voice.

Sam was still breathing heavily from the run, but he managed to glare at him.

Elexander slapped Lefrich on the shoulder as he passed him, stepping up to Sam. He didn’t have a moment to react before he was being bundled into a bear hug. Elexander smelt of spices and sweat.

“I know what it’s like to meet a fae,” he murmured and squeezed him. It probably wasn’t much pressure for Elexander, but it took the breath from Sam’s lungs. “But it’s okay. You’re safe now.”

Sam struggled slightly and was realised, though his face felt warm. He couldn’t figure out if Elexander had been teasing or in earnest.

“I wasn’t scared!” he snapped.

“Good.” Lefrich stepped forward. He gave an unreadable glance to Elexander as he passed,” because there’s going to be plenty more of them where that came from. Let’s get a move on.”

Lefrich untied the horses and Sam climbed back onto his donkey. He held out a hand and for a moment, it’s eyes were full of fear. It looked as though it was going to bolt.

But then it sniffed his tunic and gave a mighty sigh from it’s nostrils, as if in relief.

“Animals don’t like faes,” Elexander said, tying their mounts together again.

“I know.” Sam said. He pulled himself onto the donkey.

“You didn’t know about Bean Nighe.” Lefrich smirked.

“You don’t need to know the specifics of faes to stay away from them.”

“And here I thought you weren’t scared.” The smirk was still on his face.

“I wasn’t!”

“I was, when I met a fae,” Elexander said. He kept his eyes in front of him, his face drawn. It was hard to see, because the horses were always in front of Sam. “I was just a kid as well – about your and Lefrich’s age.”

Prince Lefrich scoffed. “You’re sixteen, not sixty.”

“I was on guard duty at night.” Elexander ignored the Prince. “I saw a light in the distance. Just a little yellow orb. Floating. I guess I was curious, because I followed it. The thing is – I didn’t tell anyone I was going to. I just went. It wasn’t that far, but when I got close to it, it vanished. I saw it again, about three metres away. So I followed it. That must have happened a dozen times before it suddenly split in two. Fae eyes. Then it’s a little bit of a blur. I remember something cackling. I remember it trying to convince me to –“ Elexander broke off. He looked down and took a long breath. “Then it scratched me – here.”

He turned and gestured to his cheek. It was hard to see in the growing twilight, but a pale scar ran from Elexander’s cheekbone down to his jaw.

“It was terrifying,” Elexander continued. “So I know exactly how you felt back there.”

They continued in silence for a moment. Sam allowed himself to get lost in the sound of horse’s hooves clopping against the dirt path.

“What did you learn from her?” Lefrich asked. He turned on his horse, his piercing eyes on Sam.

“She said the entrance to the Selkie court lies in the woods to the south of Tarville. The oldest tree. There’s a well that leads down from there.” Sam explained.

Elexander gave a low whilst and Sam watched the Prince bristle.

“Tarville? But that’s all the way in Alpin!” he muttered. Sam could understand. Alpin was the kingdom to the north and Sam knew it was a long way, though he didn’t know quite how far. But Lefrich just shook his head, as though it wasn’t important. “What else? Did she say we would be successful?”

Sam’s stomach flipped over. That had been the question that he had wasted.

“Yes,” he lied. He continued, in an attempt to justify himself, “She wouldn’t tell me which men we’d lose.”

Lefrich tugged his horse to a halt with such abruptness that it almost reared.

“You moron!” he snapped, ignoring his horse’s whinnies. Elexander stopped too, though his eyes were on Lefrich. “I told you to ask how many men – not which!”

Sam felt his face grow warm. It felt as if he was blushing to the roots of his hair. Of the three questions he’d had to ask, he had messed up two of them. Was he really so useless?

“He made a mistake, Leffy. It’s okay,” Elexander said, his voice soft. The kind of voice that made Sam’s stomach flip over. His words seemed to spur the Prince back into a walking pace, though his pale face was still alight with anger.

“She was washing clothes, yes?” he demanded, refusing to even look at Sam.

“Yes.”

“She washes the clothes of people who are about to die,” Lefrich said, as though he was talking to a particularly dull child. “Whose clothes was she washing.”

It was as he asked that they emerged into a clearing full of men, women and horses. The knights were sat in groups, playing with tattered packets of cards or strumming tunelessly on lires. Their horses milled around, most of them free and some being groomed by their owners.

What made Sam’s heart sink faster that a rock in a river was their clothes.

They were all wearing surcoats.

Surcoats with lion emblems.