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a hug, but couldn’t bring myself to beg for his affections; so instead I shook my head.
    â€˜I’ll let you sleep. Next time you wake up you’ll feel a little closer to normal. Then I’ll take you out into the gardens. The light and the greenery will lift your mood.’
    â€˜That’d be great.’ I wiped my eyes and forced myself to smile at Marko, to assure him I was okay. He smiled back, but his eyes didn’t. Was he disappointed somehow? Did Inot live up to his memories of me? What happened to ‘I care for you, more deeply than I’ve cared for any other girl…’
    â€˜Wait, Marko.’
    â€˜Yes?’
    Hang on. Did his eyes just flicker with something that looked like hope?
    â€˜I…um…just want to…’ Argh! I couldn’t say it. As much as I wanted to let him know that I still had feelings for him— strong, romantic feelings—the words wouldn’t come. I had to think of something else to say, quickly. ‘Um…is Damir still in the dungeons?’
    Marko’s face turned to stone, superfast and scarily so, his eyes equally as hard. ‘Yes. He’s still there. Though I’d much rather him dead.’ He sighed and stared at the ground for a long time. ‘It’s Sylvia I keep him alive for. She and Damir were so very close as children, true twins, that I somehow feel his death would affect her wellbeing.’
    â€˜And how is Sylvia?’ I asked, my voice catching at the abrupt change in him. I wanted the warm Marko back, the one who’d joked that I’d moaned and groaned in my sleep; but I had to ask after her. I needed to know if he’d listened to my hysterical ravings and warnings last year.
    A slight frown wrinkled Marko’s forehead. ‘Sylvia is well.’ He stepped back and rubbed the back of his neck, an invisible wall shooting up between us, before saying a curt, ‘Goodnight.’ On his way across the room he gestured with a wave of his arm to a small dining table with a tray of food, a carafe of wine and another of water. ‘There’s plenty to eat and drink, so feel free to help yourself.’
    My question about Sylvia had hurt and bothered him. I shouldn’t have asked about her yet. She was his sister and also the only mother he’d known. He wasn’t exactly going to love hearing that I still thought she was a threat to histhrone and his life. He wouldn’t listen to me last year, so why would he now?
    He closed the door behind him, sealing his room off from mine. I wished that he’d kept it open; at least then I’d feel connected to him somehow. Like this, I felt so alone and shut off; not only from Marko, but also from the rest of the world.
    I was literally on my own, at the bottom of the cold dark sea.
    Settling back beneath the covers, I thought of Lauren, all alone like me, especially now that she and Jackson were over. Nana and Pop would keep her occupied for the time being, as would her retail job at the city fashion boutique. Also, having no-nonsense Aunty Lynn there would help. From what I could remember of our childhood, she ran her house with military precision, but had a warm, caring heart and shared a close bond with Lauren. She’d be Lauren’s rock. And Nana would be comforted to have her sister living with her. They’d always been as close as twins, Pop used to say.
    Tears blurred my eyes at the thought of Nana asking after me. Hopefully Lauren wouldn’t tell them the truth of my whereabouts. Hopefully she’d stick to the ‘staying with friends’ story I’d made her memorise. They would eventually carry on, unaware that their youngest granddaughter had chosen another life, in a foreign world, with a guy who may or may not reciprocate her feelings, and a bunch of people whom she didn’t truly know.
    I rolled over and buried my face in the soft pillow, which smelt faintly of sea salt. Marko was in the