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from around here, so the elders and all their rules don’t worry her. She grew up in Nan Tocha.’
    â€˜One of the mining tribes,’ Tamlyn commented. ‘It’s dangerous work, they tell me.’
    I knew that more than he realised. ‘My grandfather was killed in a cave-in. Birdie took me there after he died so I’d get to know her family. I have a dozen cousins who showed me all over the mountains and even down one of the mines.’
    It had been the most frightening hour of my life; firstly climbing down into darkness, and then, of course, they’d played tricks, leaving me stranded in the pitch-black and hooting ghostly noises until I begged them to rescue me.
    I was suddenly aware of how much I’d been talking while he stayed mostly silent.
    â€˜What about your family and Nerigold’s?’ I asked. ‘She hasn’t told me much at all.’
    â€˜And she won’t, Silvermay.’
    â€˜Well, maybe you can’t tell me who they are, but you can still tell me what they’re like. Your parents, for starters.’
    Tamlyn thought about this for a long time; so long, in fact, I had to prod an answer out of him.
    â€˜They can’t be very nice if they’ve banished you like this. Were they always so harsh? I mean, they must have loved you as a boy.’
    â€˜Harsh,’ Tamlyn repeated in a murmur. ‘Yes, that’s a good word for them. As for love, I don’t know.’
    That sounded ridiculous to me. ‘How can you notknow if you were loved or not? When parents yell at you they’re angry and when they hold you close, that’s love.’
    The moonlight lit up a face that had once more become deeply serious. ‘Not everyone has a family like yours,’ he said with such sadness it was painful to hear him. ‘And not every heart can feel love as easily as you say. All the world should have a heart like yours, Silvermay.’
    And he went back to his lonely vigil with his back against the wall.
    If sleep had been out of reach before I ventured into the night air, afterwards it fled to another kingdom. We had stood beneath the moon and spoken of love. Not a love between him and me; of course not. I wasn’t pretending for a moment that we had. But even to say the word out loud to any man was a first for me, and, no matter how I told myself otherwise, there had been an intimacy in the things we’d said that seemed stronger than any of the girlish dreams I’d painted inside my head since he arrived in the village.
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    Nerigold was feeling better in the morning. ‘Your mother says I should walk in the sun for a bit. Will you show me around the village? All I’ve seen so far is the inside of this cottage.’
    â€˜Not much to see,’ I answered, but that wasn’t the point.
    She blinked and shaded her eyes when we first emerged into the light, then forged ahead to make the most of it. I could see her responding more to the sun’s warmth with every minute and, by the time we’d reached the high road near the inn, she felt strong enough to take Lucien from my arms.
    â€˜Oomph! He gets heavier every time I hold him,’ she said.
    Somehow we’d arrived at the Hollyoaks’, where Tamlyn was fixing yet another roof. Fancy that!
    â€˜Good to see you out in the sun,’ he called to Nerigold.
    â€˜A few more days and I’ll climb up to help you finish the job.’
    That wasn’t very likely but it was good to hear her so cheerful.
    â€˜I could do with the help. And the view is worth the climb. Silvermay,’ he called, catching me by surprise, ‘you should come up and see it.’
    â€˜No, don’t be ridiculous.’
    â€˜Oh, come on. Who was telling me she’s the boy in her family?’
    I glanced sideways to see what Nerigold made of this. She seemed to be enjoying my discomfort and didn’t ask what Tamlyn was talking about.
    â€˜Where’s all that