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Emilia thought. A bee enchantress .
    â€˜Do you want to see?’ Fairnette’s dark eyes were glowing. ‘It’s very beautiful, a beehive.’
    â€˜Won’t they attack us and sting us?’ Luka asked.
    â€˜Not as long as you are quiet and slow. The smoke calms them, and they trust me.’
    â€˜I don’t think Zizi knows how to be calm and slow,’ Luka said. ‘I’ll stay here and keep her quiet, I think.’ He had a very vivid memory of the last beehive they had encountered, with Sweetheart the bear. Sebastien Hearne had been unable to sit down for hours.
    Fairnette smiled. ‘Coward,’ she said. ‘What about you, Emilia?’
    Emilia followed Fairnette across the clearing. Behind them, Luka laid one hand on Rollo’s neck to keep him near, cradling Zizi in the other arm.
    â€˜One must always be clean and sweet and sober to come to the bees,’ Fairnette said in a soft voice. ‘They do not like noise, or clamour, or roughness, or bad smells. They do not like strangers. So stand by here and let me introduce you.’
    Emilia nodded.
    â€˜Oh, bees, we thank you for your good workand harmony,’ Fairnette said in a soft singsong voice. ‘We come here in peace, to tell you of strangers here among us. This here is Emilia Finch. She means no disrespect to you, coming with her hair all blowsy and her hem hanging down. She has not had time yet to tidy herself after her long journey. She means you no harm. She thanks you for your good honey, which gave her new heart this morning.’

    Emilia found herself bowing her head and murmuring a thank-you, even as she lifted her hand to unconsciously smooth down her unruly hair.
    â€˜There among the bushes is Luka Finch,’ Fairnette continued. ‘He means you no disrespect not coming forward to greet you himself. He has with him wild creatures that may not know enough of you to go gently among you. He, too, thanks you for your good honey. He said it was the most delicious he had ever eaten.’
    The bees danced about Fairnette as if listening.
    â€˜Luka and Emilia have trouble in their family, and have come to us for help. I hope that we can lend them a hand, and bring peace and harmony back to the Finch family, so that all is right in their world.’
    Emilia stood very quietly, hearing the hum of the bees’ wings in her ears. One blundered against her arm, and it was hard not to flinch back. Thenit flew off again, following an invisible road through the air.
    â€˜Come see through my glass window,’ Fairnette said. ‘This is my favourite thing in the world. It always makes me happy to see how the bees all work together. Mr Browne had it made for me.’
    To Emilia’s utter fascination, she was able to look through the window into the very heart of the hive. She could see the bees coming in from outside and delivering the nectar to other bees, one to another in a long, slow chain of honey-making. She could see the airy construction of honeycomb cells, with the dark heart of the brood buried deep inside. She even saw bees carrying in droplets of water to let fall on the backs of the worker bees who were busy fanning the hive to keep it cool. Fairnette was glad to explain everything to her, and Emilia had to turn and signal to Luka to come and see as well, for she knew he would be as entranced as she was.
    Fairnette pointed out what she called soldier bees, whose job it was to attack any threat. ‘It is their job to guard the queen,’ Fairnette told them. ‘Without a queen, the hive will die.’
    Emilia could not help wondering what would happen to their hive if Cromwell died. He ruled like a king, without being a king, and his sons were not princes to inherit the throne. She could understand why prayers had been said for him all over the countryside that Sunday. Everyone, Roundhead or Royalist alike, dreaded the turmoil that would follow his death.
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