The pony stumbled as he hurried it along. Tab could see its colouring was similar to the other two equens, Talisman and Trinket, who had arrived that morning. It had the same tattoos running down its legs.

The equen's ears flickered in her direction.

›››Tattoo

‘Yah! Giddy-up!’ Fontagu snapped the lead rope over the equen's rump, and the animal winced.

The sky-trader hissed – an incredulous, outraged sound, as Fontagu and the equen slipped around the bend and into the darkness. Chak cupped her hands around her mouth and tilted her face skywards. ‘Alarm!’ she roared. ‘Alarm!’

Throughout the city Tab heard the distress signal repeated, Alarm! Alarm! Followed by the crashes and bangs, breaking glass, snarls and yelps of brawls breaking out in the streets and taverns.

Tab hurtled down the lane after Fontagu with Chak hard on her heels. The sky-trader snagged one of her pigtails and Tab's head jerked. ‘Ahh!’ she called as she lost her footing and slipped. Chak straddled her and pummelled with her fists. Tab screamed, but knew her calls for help would go unnoticed in the fracas all around.

Suddenly, Chak made a funny ‘Yoick!’ noise, and Tab felt the weight lift off her stomach. The skytrader's arms and legs flailed as Vrod held her by the scruff of the neck.

‘You!’ Tab gasped. ‘Are you following me?’

‘Verris say watch the girl. I watch the girl,’ the troll grunted. His nostrils flared and his ears waggled as he took in the sounds and aroma of the fighting. His eyes took on a dreamy look, like a dog scratching an itch. ‘Go. I've got bones to crack. Fresh marrow!’ Vrod licked his lips.

Chak yelped and thrashed but the troll held her at arm's length as though she were a naughty kitten.

Tab scrambled to her feet and dashed off down the alley. In the streets around her she could hear the thump of running boots, roars, grunts and the clash of metal as sky-traders and Quentarans fought each other. Still, her way was clear, apart from rats and cats lurking in corners and picking their way through the debris that lined the alley.

As she ran she noticed that the sandpaper feeling in her head had diminished. It wasn't gone altogether, but she felt that she could mind-meld if she concentrated hard. It was a good feeling – a satisfying feeling, like splashing your face with cold water on a hot day.

Tab reached a crossroads and she stopped, trying to get her bearings. At the end of the alleyway she could see at least twenty people fighting. Hulk Duelph and his fiery sister Taschia despatched opponents side by side. Rad de La'rel and his partner Tulcia chased two sky-traders that they had disarmed along the street.

The sky-traders stopped to collect swords from fallen comrades and soon the tables were turned.

Drunk Quentarans and trolls threw themselves into the fray with relish. The tiny sky-traders fought with efficient accuracy. In the gloom it was hard for Tab to tell who was winning.

Which way would Fontagu go? Tab wondered. It couldn't be! The old slaughterhouse! What a place to take a sad old animal! She turned in a circle and realised she was not fifty paces from the doorway. Checking that she was not being followed, Tab rushed up to the building.

Fontagu poked his head out of the doorway, listening to the screams and the fighting in the streets. He gathered his cloak closer about him.

‘Ah, there you are,’ he said, picking Tab's form out of the gloom. He rushed into the alley and hauled Tab inside by the sleeve, slamming the door behind them.

Once inside he ran from window to window, fastening shutters that still had hinges and locks, and shoving old equipment in front of windows that were bare. His cloak flapped about his limbs as he scurried.

The equen stood in the middle of the slaughterhouse looking bewildered and miserable.

Tab stepped over the old timber and broken beams that littered the floor. She took in the fragrance of the mare's breath. It smelt sickly, like overripe fruit, and cloying like turned cream. Her flanks were hollow with dehydration and the dried sweat made grimy curlicues of her dirty coat.

At the end of the row Tab pushed open the halfdoor of an old stall that still had some straw in it. The equen stumbled toward an open barrel, halffilled with stagnant water.

‘Wait,’ Tab said. She dragged the barrel out into the main holding area and tipped the foul water into the drain. Then she hauled the barrel across to a rusty water pump in the corner. It was corroded, and squeaked as she pumped, but the water that came from the spout smelt fresh enough.

Tab lugged it back to the stable and stood it in the corner. The equen drank with gusto, and the muscles beneath her eyes twitched with every gulp she took.

‘Slow.’ Tab placed a hand on the mare's neck pushing her head away from the water. Too much too fast would make her ill.

The equen staggered away from the barrel. She swayed on her feet.

‘You can sleep. I will keep watch,’ Tab promised.

The mare fixed Tab with a wary and intense gaze for a moment and then, satisfied that her new friend would maintain the vigil as promised, sniffed the bedding. She dropped to her knees. The rest of her body hit the floor with a thump. Her head drooped until her chin was resting somewhere deep in the straw. She groaned, a hoarse wheeze in her chest. She blinked three times and then her eyes stayed closed.

Tab's eyes ran over the little equen's tired and defeated body. She could see the intricate pattern on the backs of her legs. ‘Tattoo,’ she whispered. ‘That's your name, isn't it?’

The mare's eyes fluttered open for a second and Tab saw gratitude there. Tab knew that this equen was as far from home as she had ever been – so far it seemed unfathomable. It was plain on her face that she'd given up any hope of seeing her own kind again.

That feeling of sorrow that she'd felt on the skytraders’ ship draped over her. It was so heavy Tab didn't think she could stay upright. She crouched down next to the equen. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

Tab thought of telling Tattoo about the other two equens at the palace livery. They could go there after the fighting was over – assuming that Quentaris won.

‘No time for that!’ Fontagu said interrupting her thoughts. ‘Wake her up. Use that mind skill of yours. I want to know everything.’ He prodded Tab in the side. ‘Go on, then.’

‘She's exhausted!’ Tab protested, slapping his hand away.

‘Listen!’ Fontagu tilted his head to the side. ‘Can you hear it? Sky-traders are fighting with us, taking lives, risking their own, for her.’ He nodded towards the equen again. ‘Must be worth something, wouldn't you say?’

Fontagu rubbed his hands together, almost jigging with joy. ‘Tee hee!’ he chortled. ‘I knew it! The moment I clapped eyes on the old girl in her cage this morning. But I have always been an excellent judge of true value.’

‘I won't help you!’ Tab said, rubbing her streaming eyes with her sleeve.

‘Yes, you will.’ Fontagu grinned. ‘You can't help yourself.’ He chuckled again. ‘Just at dusk the clouds rolled in and there was an empty vessel in the harbour.’ His fingers danced in front of his face. ‘It was like divine providence. There was no one standing guard. No one! Can you imagine? Those sky pedlars must have mistaken Quentarans for honest folk.’

‘Most of us are!’ Tab told him, but even as she said it she reddened. While she preferred to make an honest living, she had ‘borrowed’ when the opportunity arose.

‘… or fools.’ Fontagu regarded her for a moment with a faint smile on his face. Then his mind turned to self-congratulation once more. He strode about, as though he were on a stage, snapping his fingers. ‘I just have an instinct! It's a gift. Like you, for example. You're not much to look at. Just a scrap of a thing really, but useful, and I saw it first! This one will be just the same. You watch.’ He crouched down next to her. ‘Go on, then. Burrow in there, little mouse.’