He could get used to this.

Paddy the Caddie came in with a cup of tea and a plate of food on a tray.

‘You took your time.’

‘It’s not my fault,’ said Paddy in his thick Irish accent. ‘They was busy in the kitchens.’

‘I don’t want excuses, PC, I want results. Yeah?’

‘Yeah, sorry. Plus I had to look for the other thing for you.’

‘Did you find it?’

‘Yeah.’

Paddy put the tray down and unslung a pack from his back.

‘Open it up.’

Paddy unzipped it. There were a few bits of clothes, a toothbrush, a torch and three cans of spray paint.

Achilleus sat looking at it all in silence for a long while. Then he picked up one of the cans.

‘Was he a mate of yours?’ said Paddy.

‘Freak? Nah. Not really.’ He chucked the can to Paddy. ‘Look after this for me. And the others. The rest you can dump.’

‘OK. I’m not supposed to be your slave, though,’ said Paddy. ‘More of a servant, I thought. I do things for you and you do things for me. Like teaching me to fight.’

‘We’ll see.’

‘You said…’

‘Don’t bug me, little man.’

‘Sorry.’

Achilleus took a sip of tea. It was too hot. He put it back down.

‘Blow on that for me, will you?’

‘I will not.’

‘You want me to teach you to fight, you blow on my tea.’

‘You teach me, I’ll blow on it.’

Achilleus stood up and stretched. Looked at Paddy.

‘You really want to learn bad, don’t you?’

‘I sure do. So can we start?’

‘What? Now?’

Paddy shrugged. Achilleus waited a moment then pushed him over on the carpet and laughed. Paddy looked angry and hurt.

‘What did you do that for?’

‘First lesson,’ said Achilleus, holding out his hand to pull Paddy up. ‘Be ready for anything. At any time. The best fighter in the world can be taken out if he ain’t ready. Look at what happened to Just John. Twice now I’ve had him. Once back at the camp, once out there. He was a better fighter than me, mos’ def, but he’s none too smart, and both times I caught him napping.’

Paddy grinned.

‘I’ll be ready next time.’

Achilleus hauled him to his feet, but halfway up he let go and Paddy fell back down with a thump. Achilleus laughed at him and the little boy looked even more pissed off this time.

‘Thought you said you was ready,’ said Achilleus.

‘That was just stupid,’ said Paddy.

‘Ah, but you’re learning, padawan. Don’t trust no one.’

‘So how do you know you can trust me?’ said Paddy, getting up by himself this time. ‘Maybe I’m a spy in your camp.’

‘You think I haven’t considered that?’ said Achilleus.

‘I ain’t, though,’ said Paddy quickly, throwing a pleading look at Achilleus like a cute puppy. ‘Don’t chuck me out. Please. I don’t want to go back to the camp. It’s cold there and wet. I kept asking John why we couldn’t just live in the houses like everyone else, but he said we was different. Special. I never understood half of what he used to go on about. He said we was like gypsies. But we never went anywhere. We never did nothing, neither. It was boring there.’

‘You think it’s gonna be any better here?’ said Achilleus.

‘Hope so,’ said Paddy. ‘When you start giving me my lessons. Proper ones. Not like that. Not like a kids’ game.’

‘What, you want me to come at you with a pointed stick?’

‘No. There’s more to giving lessons than just attacking someone.’

‘Wouldn’t know,’ said Achilleus. ‘Never given a lesson before. Not sure I’ll be much use as a teacher. You’ll just have to watch and learn, I guess. Pick up what you can on the job. It’s not nothing I ever usually think about.’

‘I’m a quick learner,’ said Paddy.

Achilleus smiled at him, then shoved him over on the floor again. Paddy looked like he was going to burst into tears, but Achilleus just laughed at him. He was still laughing when Maxie came in.

‘I’m going up to see Blue,’ she said.

‘Give him my love,’ said Achilleus.

‘Will you come with me?’

‘What for?’

‘I want to talk to him about whether we stay here.’

‘Why would you want to leave?’

‘You could have died today, Akkie.’

‘That was my choice.’

‘And Freak did die.’

‘Could have happened any time.’

‘We’re just doing David’s dirty work for him.’

‘So? I like doing dirty work.’

‘Be serious.’

‘I am being serious, Maxie. I mean, look at me, I’m a fighter. What do you expect me to do? Sit around all day counting potatoes? I’m not like you, Maxie, I’m not interested in politics. So long as I have a bit of excitement in my life, get some food at the end of the day, I’m cool.’

‘Like an animal.’

‘Jesus, calm down, Maxie. Look around you! We’re living in Buckingham Palace, for God’s sake, not the zoo. Before – how we used to live – that was living like animals. This is living like a queen.’

‘I thought you’d rather live like a king,’ said Maxie.

‘Same difference,’ said Achilleus. ‘Bottom line: I like it here. I don’t know why you’d want to leave.’

‘Because if we stay here we’ll become like David. All he really wants is power.’

‘That’s fine with me,’ said Achilleus. ‘As long as I’m on the winning side. Don’t want to hang with no losers.’

‘Will you come anyway?’ said Maxie. ‘To see Blue?’

‘Can’t be arsed. I get bored of too much yacking.’

‘Fine. Don’t come then.’

‘I won’t.’

Achilleus winked at Paddy who laughed. Maxie blushed and headed for the door before she lost her temper and made a fool of herself. Her side was throbbing badly enough to make her cry. Jester was waiting in the corridor outside carrying a candelabra with five lit candles. She wondered how much he had heard of their conversation.

What the hell. It was no secret what she felt about David.

Sod Achilleus. Sod him! At least Ollie was meeting her up there, so she had some support.

As she left the room Achilleus called out to her.

‘Where would you go?’

‘I don’t know,’ she called back angrily. ‘Anywhere away from here.’

Jester took her along to the grand staircase where they climbed one of the twin stairways. At the top was a statue of Perseus holding the Gorgon’s severed head. Maxie was struck by how young Perseus looked, and how old Medusa looked. Maybe that was what the story was about. A boy killing an adult. The new world killing off the old.

Jester took her through the upper floors of the building, his candlelight flickering along the walls. It was less grand up here, more like a normal house, albeit a huge one.

The sick-bay was tucked away in a corner of the top floor. It was off a short corridor reached by a small back staircase. Two of David’s guards sat outside, with rifles by their sides.

Maxie turned to Jester with a questioning look.

‘I thought this was a sick-bay, not a prison.’

‘Lighten up,’ said Jester. ‘They’re not keeping guard. They’re just there if anyone needs anything.’

‘So why the guns?’

Jester leant over and spoke quietly in Maxie’s ear.

‘They won’t go anywhere without them. They love their toys.’

He chuckled as they went inside.

There were six beds in here. Each with a little nightlight burning by its side. Four of the beds were empty. The other two held Blue and the girl they had rescued. She was lying there, staring at the ceiling, her face covered with bandages.

Blue was sitting up, naked above the sheets, reading a book, which he put down as Maxie came in.

Rose sat by the window with her own candle, leafing through a magazine. Another girl in a nurse’s uniform was filling a glass with water from a jug. There was an air of peace and calm. Maxie wondered what she’d been so worried about.

Blue gave her a wide smile, genuinely pleased to see her. He looked fine. Well-fed and rested. Maxie was struck for the first time by how fit his body was. Since the disaster they had all been eating a lot less, their bodies were mostly lean with little fat. Their active lives kept their muscles in shape.