‘Oh, I see.’

‘No, I don’t think you do. Whatever you imagine them to be, they are that much worse.’

‘Have you met them before?’ Tab asked.

Verris gave a humourless chuckle. ‘ Met them? No. I did see a dead one in a jar of alcohol once, but they don’t tend to die very much. Perfectly suited to their environment. I’d always hoped I’d never have to meet them face to face.’

‘What do they do?’

‘Do? Whatever they want.’

‘I mean, what do they have that we could want? Or need?’

‘The rumour is that they grow icefire, but I don’t believe it.’

‘Doesn’t it make sense?’ Danda said.

‘You tell us. You’ve studied the Yarka – what do they do?’ Verris asked her.

Danda shook her head. ‘I didn’t study the Yarka, I just studied their language. I know almost nothing about them. But don’t you think it makes sense that they grow icefire? Icefire’s what we need more than anything, and they’ve sent us on this… ridiculous mission.’

‘But why us?’ Tab asked. ‘There’s four of us, and that’s including Torby. It’s not much of an army.’

‘They didn’t want to send an army,’ Verris said. ‘If Quentaris was to assemble an army to fight the Yarka but we didn’t win, then we would lose many, many Quentarans for no reason. We can’t fight the Yarka, so we need to negotiate.’

‘Will that work?’ asked Danda.

‘The Yarka might be savage, but they’re also a proud race,’ Verris said. ‘They’ll hear us out.’

‘And if we don’t achieve what we have to achieve?’

‘Florian will send us again, or someone else.’

‘There is no one else,’ Danda said. ‘There was me, and my tutor, and she died almost a year ago. As far as I know, I’m the only one.’

Verris held her in a long gaze. ‘Then you’d better interpret well, hadn’t you?’

Torby wasn’t speaking. Tab hadn’t really expected that he would, but she had wondered if this sudden change in his situation might prompt him into movement, or even vague recognition.

‘Torby, I need you to talk to me,’ she said.

‘It’s no good,’ Verris said, squinting at the newly risen sun, sickly behind the cloud cover. ‘Don’t waste your time.’

‘It’s not wasted time,’ Tab replied. ‘I’m just trying to get something out of him.’

Verris reached down, took Tab’s arm and lifted her to her feet. His eyes were deadly serious. ‘I don’t mean that talking to friends is a waste of time. I’d like to hear Torby speak just as much as you would. But you need to use your time differently right now. You need to concentrate on this. It was in the chest.’ He held out a small notebook. On the front, in fine letters embossed into the leather, was a single word: ORDERS. Verris patted it. ‘You need to familiarise yourself with these. If you don’t, we’re never getting back up to Quentaris. Not you, not me, not her, and definitely not Torby.’

Resisting the urge to snatch it from him, Tab took the notebook and sat down to read it.

She read aloud: ‘ Your mission is simple. Negotiate with the Yarka and attain some of their powerful gems.

‘Each of you is important to the success of the mission.

‘Verris is appointed with the task of leading the mission. He has not been chosen for his fighting skills, but for his skills as a leader and a negotiator. He has been kept alive for just this purpose – to fail would be to disappoint Us. ’

‘No one will be more disappointed with failure than me,’ Verris said.

Tab half-smiled, then went back to reading: ‘ Your Interpreter is one of the very few Quentarans who can converse with the Yarka. Protect her with the utmost diligence.

‘Your Navigator will guide you from Quentaris to the Yarka and, with all good luck and care, back again. The ocean is vast, and the Yarka difficult to find. The symbols and magical sayings…

‘They’re called incantations, you idiots,’ Tab muttered.

‘Keep going,’ Danda said breathlessly.

‘The symbols and magical sayings contained in the pages that follow will allow Stelka to guide you through the world of the Yarka. She will know how to use them.’

‘Hold on,’ said Verris. ‘Did you say “Stelka”? So why are you here, Tab?’

‘I don’t know,’ Tab replied. ‘I really don’t.’

‘But can you navigate for us?’

‘Of course,’ she said, hoping that her false confidence wasn’t showing. ‘There’ll be no problem at all.’

She returned to the orders: ‘ For Quentaris to achieve what it wishes to achieve, three gems are required.’ Tab whistled. ‘Three!’

‘I know,’ said Verris.

She read on. ‘ You should bring one gem each back to Quentaris, and your mission will be deemed complete.’

‘But if we bring back one gem each, we’ll have one too many,’ Danda interrupted.

‘Keep reading, Tab,’ Verris said.

‘ The fourth member of your party shall remain behind as leverage payment. That is all.’ Tab frowned. Lowering her voice so Torby wouldn’t hear, she asked Verris, ‘So he has to stay behind?’

‘So it would seem.’

‘As their… I don’t know… slave? He has to live the rest of his life with these Yarka people?’

‘Not exactly,’ Verris replied.

‘All right, so they’re not people, but with these Yarka… creatures.’

‘Not exactly.’ Tab saw Verris exchange a quick glance with Danda, who lowered her eyes immediately. ‘Negotiations with the Yarka are quite simple, Tab. The chances of success are far greater if you have something to give them in return.’

‘That’s right. Like I said, a slave.’

Verris shook his head. His eyes were glistening as he levelled his gaze at Tab. ‘I’m sorry, Tab, not a slave.’

‘Then what?’

‘A sacrifice.’

Tab slumped to the floor of the scout-pod. It was as if someone had punched her in the gut, and all the wind had been knocked out of her. ‘Are you sure?’ she gasped.

‘You read it yourself,’ Verris answered. ‘The fourth member of the party will stay back as payment. And there’s only one member of our party who doesn’t have an important job to do.’

‘I think being a human sacrifice is a pretty important job, don’t you?’

Verris smiled grimly. ‘You know what I mean, Tab.’

Tab shook her head furiously. ‘No. No. It’s not going to happen. We’re all going back – all four of us.’

‘Child, be sensible,’ Danda said, reaching out to stroke Tab’s hair.

Tab pulled away. ‘Don’t try to make me feel better! And don’t call me Child!’

Danda’s voice was annoyingly calm. ‘All I’m saying is that if any of us wants to see our families again, we need to follow the instructions in that book there, to the letter. Don’t you see?’

‘I don’t have a family, and neither does Torby,’ Tab retorted. ‘Maybe that’s why they chose us, do you think?’

‘Tab, it’s not Danda’s fault,’ Verris said. ‘The orders are very clear. It has to be this way. Torby stays.’

Tab looked over at Torby. He hadn’t moved from his position in the corner, curled in on himself like a snail that’s been poked with a twig. ‘Keep your voice down,’ she hissed. ‘He might not be saying much, but he can hear every word. Then she went over to him, sank down by his side and stroked his face. ‘It’s all right, Torby. I won’t let them do anything to you,’ she said softly.

‘Tab,’ Verris was saying. ‘We’re nearly there. Time is short.’ He was holding out the book. ‘It’s time to be the Navigator you were always meant to be.’

‘I’ll be back,’ she whispered to Torby, who showed no response at all.

Tab took the book from Verris and opened it. ‘You’re in my light,’ she snapped.

Just as she expected, the pages were full of symbols and diagrams that would once have meant nothing to her. Even now, out of practice as she was, it took her a moment to get her head around them, but surprisingly quickly the understanding began to return.

‘I’m glad you know what you’re doing,’ Danda said, but she was quickly shushed by Verris.