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up a layer of blocks, found purchase in the cracks between the stones with my foot, then reached up with one hand to pull myself higher, like the lizards I had seen climbing the palace walls on a hot summer’s day. ‘You see? It’s easy!’
    But Cassandra did not reply.
    â€˜Cassandra?’ I asked, twisting around to look down at her.
    She was facing away from the wall, standing still and staring.
    â€˜Cassandra, are you all right?’
    And then I froze.
    Three feral dogs the size of wolves had appeared at the other end of the alley, a hundred paces behind us, and were advancing down the narrow street, their sharp teeth bared, hackles raised. They moved stealthily, jaws curled in a low snarl, revealing sharp, pointed fangs, their wild, dark eyes fixed on us as if they would hunt and savage us as easily as hares caught in a thicket.
    â€˜
Quick!
Climb up!’
    Cassandra did not need telling twice. Whirling around, her blue eyes wide with fear, she snatched up her skirt and started to pull herself up the wall. I was moving fast – there were only two more large stone blocks between me and the sky … One more …
    I looked back, my heart racing. The dogs had started to run and they were gathering speed, teeth bared, snarling, spittle flying behind them. They were fifty paces away now and the distance was closing, and Cassandra was still within their reach …
    Cassandra was breathing hard with mixed terror and exhaustion as she pulled herself higher. I stepped down a layer to help her and reached out my hand to pull her up. ‘Come on, Cassandra! You have to keep climbing! Only one more – one more—’
    And then we had reached the top of the wall, and the dogs were beneath us, snapping and leaping, jaws barely missing our heels as we scrabbled up and on to the broad rough stones that capped it.
    â€˜Oh, Krisayis!’ Cassandra breathed, as she pulled herself up next to me, her words ragged and uneven as she gasped for breath. ‘That was –
so – close
!’
    I nodded, my heart hammering with fear and excitement. ‘I know.’ I looked down at the dogs, snarling and jumping only a few feet beneath us, white teeth bared, and shivered slightly; then I turned, lowered myself over the far side of the wall and climbed down, dropping on to the grass of the sanctuary.
    â€˜We didn’t get hurt, though, did we?’ I said, as Cassandra started down after me.
    â€˜No,’ Cassandra said, ‘but—’ She faltered, looking over her shoulder at the ten-foot drop.
    â€˜Here,’ I said, moving forwards. I held out my hand to help her jump to the ground.
    We gazed around us as we got our breath back, taking in our surroundings.
    The temple was set above us on a slight hill, a tall, imposing structure of dark stone with bronze doors fronted by painted columns and set above an open courtyard, with a flight of steep steps. Around it were clustered several smaller buildings – a white-plastered dwelling, perhaps the home of the priest and priestesses, a wooden storehouse set against the wall and a workshop from which a faint smell of sand and dust drifted towards us. A single stone-flagged path wound up the hill towards the buildings, lined on either side by twisted old oaks and the sacred stone slabs of the gods, scattering the precinct like relics.
    â€˜What now?’ Cassandra asked. ‘Can we not go back to the palace, Krisayis?’
    I felt a twinge of guilt at the pleading note in her voice. I knew that Cassandra did not like to leave the palace grounds and that she disliked disobedience even more; she was happiest when she was in the palace, surrounded by her brothers, in her familiar element. But then, I thought, I simply could not let this pass me by. It might be the only chance I had to find out about the life my father was determined to force me into before he succeeded in his plans, and all was lost.
    I brushed my long