Luce put her hands on her hips. 'I keep telling him, if he's not ready when the man comes, Ma'll more than likely feed him to that beast herself.'
Elena glared at her. 'That isn't helping! Course he's scared. Anyone would be with that thing in the room.' She turned back to Finch, coaxing him softly. 'But Luce is right, the cat's on such a stout chain that not even a dragon could break it.
And besides, look at all that meat on the table. The man couldn't eat all that, that's for the cat, that is. That's what it can smell, not you.'
As if it understood the word meat, the great cat snarled from behind the bed, and the little boy cringed still further into the corner. He stared desperately up at Elena, his face blotchy with tears.
'But what's the man going to do with the . . . cat? Maybe he'll let it go.'
'He won't,' Elena said soothingly. 'He'd be too afeared the creature would turn on him. And besides, Ma wouldn't let him, she'd not want that thing roaming round scaring all her customers away.'
'But why's it here then?' Finch persisted.
Elena glanced at Luce, who shrugged. 'Gets some men excited,' she said.
Elena wasn't sure she even understood that herself, though by now, listening to the giggling tales of the other girls, she had learned a great deal about what excited men. Very little of it made sense to her, but she knew that a giant cat was by no means the strangest.
With her thumb, Elena rubbed away the tears on Finch's Softly rounded cheeks. 'The big cat can't reach you. It's just as safe as when it's in one of Ma's cages. And you're not afeared of those caged beasts, are you? Remember, you told me it was safe to walk by them. Please, Finch, you know you have to do what Ma says. We all do. If you just let me help you dress, everything will be all right, I promise.'
It took a lot more coaxing and pleading before Finch finally allowed Elena to strip the clothes from his thin little body and pull the fur over his head so it hung from him like a little tunic. He stood still as she dressed him, his arms as limp as a rag doll, his head bowed, as if he knew there was no point in putting up any kind of fight. Elena saw the old dead look creep into his eyes and knew he was trying to shut her out, to shut out everything and close himself off until it was over. She knew that, because she had done the same thing that night in the pit at the manor, when she thought they were going to hang her. Sometimes, when the body is chained and cannot escape, the only thing you can do to save yourself is to let your mind fly away instead.
They had just finished when the big cat began to growl in a deep, throaty rasp, and a few moments later Elena heard the sound of heavy footsteps approaching the room.
The door opened, but this time the big cat didn't spring up. It walked as far as it could on its short chain to the side of the bed and stood there, its ears pricked and tail held high.
Ma entered, followed by a dark-haired man.
'Is the boy . . . ?' she began, then broke off as she caught sight of Elena kneeling beside the child. Her eyes flashed in alarm. 'Luce, I thought I said you were to get him ready.'
'I couldn't, Ma. He'd only get dressed for her.'
'Disobedient brat, is he?' the man said, taking a step forward. 'All the better, Mistress Margot, I'll take great pleasure in schooling him.'
'He doesn't need schooling,' Elena snapped. 'He was afraid, that's all. That beast's enough to scare anyone.'
'That's quite enough,' Ma said quickly. 'Off you go now.'
Elena turned towards the door, but the man stepped in front of her, barring her way. He seemed oddly familiar to Elena. His features were well fashioned and his hair was almost as black as the great cat's, but it was his eyes she remembered, grey and cold as a November sky.
He seemed to know her too. He was staring at her as if he couldn't quite place her. 'What's your name, girl?'
'Holly,' she murmured. Then suddenly she realized who he was. Before she could control herself a look of fear flashed across her