THE HOUR WENT FAST, AWFULLY fast. Time seemed to fly while I ached to slow it down. Before I knew it, the rest of the day had gone and I sat in an armchair, looking out over the courtyard.

Alek lay sleeping in the bed, but Audi kept me company. The night was still and only the guards on duty moved outside, quietly going about their rounds. As much as I knew my body needed it, sleep refused to come. Everything that had happened today kept ticking over in my head.

By the ...