Her eyes narrow, but she picks up a catalogue and flips through it. ‘Madilyne told me that unless the initial scans registered a need for remapping, the whole procedure would take less than an hour,’ she says, the side of her mouth curling up.

‘Who’s Madilyne?’ I ask.

‘My mentor,’ she says, as though this is obvious. ‘Didn’t yours tell you anything?’

‘She told me enough.’

‘Well,’ Pryana says with a smirk, ‘I’d get a new mentor. Yours clearly isn’t doing her job.’

‘Are you volunteering?’ I ask.

‘Careful, Adelice, or they’ll think you’re coming on to me.’

As much as I loathe Pryana, I turn and look at her directly. ‘Did they ask you about that?’

‘About what?’ she says, but then she sighs, grudgingly meeting my eyes.

‘Other Spinsters, you know . . .’

‘Hitting on me?’ She shrugs. ‘Yeah, it was weird.’

Pryana turns back to her shopping. She seems less than interested by the mapping questions. But if she’s being truthful, and it is only a half-hour procedure, she doesn’t have nearly as much to worry about.

Since it’s probably not a good idea to snoop around with her here, I try not to be disappointed that I can’t get a better look at this wing of the Coventry. It’s under surveillance anyway. I flip through a catalogue but don’t order anything. Meanwhile Pryana barks out order after order to the companel. If her wardrobe is half the size of mine, she doesn’t need any of it. But she strikes me as a girl who’s here to get her duty’s worth. Finally Nurse Renni reappears with our clothing. We dress in a hurry, our backs turned to each other. A guard meets us at the door and leads us through the sterile corridor. There is nothing here to distinguish one door from another. No sign to suggest what happens in the rooms we pass. Not even the sound of medics working. So much for my brilliant plan of using the mapping to get more info.

But as the guard guides us into the main lobby, I spy a nurse busily updating a digifile as she disappears behind a grey swinging door. It’s the first medical personnel I’ve seen besides the doctor and Nurse Renni. Edging closer to the door, I catch glimpses as it slowly sways to a close – a long hallway, grey tile, a small security door, and on it the word ‘research’. It’s a good thing that monitor isn’t on me now, because my heart just stopped.

‘Ladies,’ the guard says, waiting for us like a gentleman at the access desk. We exit the clinic, and he takes us back to the high tower. As we walk, I track the number of turns and count each step I take. If I can manage it, I want to get back there. But first I’ll have to get clearance to go into the research area. Our escort deposits us at the brass lift, bowing slightly as he leaves.

‘What floor?’ Pryana asks.

‘F-f-fifteen,’ I stammer, shocked by the friendly gesture.

She rolls her eyes.

‘What floor are you on?’ I ask.

‘Four.’

I reach over to press the button for her floor, but her hand smacks mine away.

‘Don’t be stupid,’ she hisses. ‘If I have to ride in a lift with you, I’m going to see the high tower.’

‘You live in the high tower,’ I remind her.

She glowers at me. ‘No, I live in the lower quarters and the lifts won’t let me travel past the lounge floor.’

For the first time I study the buttons. There are five floors below the lounge button, including Pryana’s.

‘Oh, I just assumed.’

‘Yeah,’ she says, ‘that’s always your problem.’

‘Look—’ I say, heat flushing my cheeks, but before I can tell her where to shove it, the doors slide open to my floor.

There are two more plum-lacquered doors on this floor, but I’ve never seen another Spinster here, which is why I don’t push Pryana into the lift and force her back to the lower quarters. There’s nothing here she can’t see, and it’s not like she’s going to come hang out with me in my room and have a pyjama party. But as soon as we step off the lift, I regret my decision. Two women are in the hall. Way to go, Adelice. Get caught showing off.

Their backs are to us, but then I realise only one of them is turned away, her blonde hair neatly rolled and pinned into a French twist. I don’t understand what I’m seeing. Arms snaking around her waist and up her back. Slender olive arms with brilliant red nails.

‘Oh, my Arras,’ Pryana gasps, and the pair split from their embrace.

It’s enough to startle me, and I shove Pryana into the waiting lift and push the button to shut the door. Twisting back to the women, I stare at Enora and Valery, who are frozen to the spot. Now I understand why the doctor asked those questions. And so does Pryana.

17

Enora snaps to, fleeing down the hall to the seldom-used stairs at the end. Valery shifts back on her heels and opens her mouth, but she doesn’t say anything. We stare at each other. I can’t quite wrap my head around it. Valery and Enora. It doesn’t feel wrong exactly, just different. And a small part of me feels left out, like I should have known that the two people closest to me here share this secret. The unfairness of this thought makes me look away, ashamed. Who am I to judge them? I’ve been anything but upfront about Jost.

I’m the one to break the silence. ‘Is that why she’s acting strangely?’

‘No,’ Valery says with a slight shake of her head. ‘This has nothing to do with that.’