Even these measures were scarce enough to ward off the penetrating chill. The farther they went from the restored, inhabited rooms of the castle, the colder the air became. The soft yellow glow cast by their high-held lanterns illuminated fingers of frost creeping over the damp, half-frozen stone of the walls; their breath misted and froze as it left their lips. Black shadows raced away from them ahead, and crowded in close behind. Corridor after corridor they traversed, peeping into long-abandoned chambers cluttered with decaying furniture, the air thick with dust and neglect.
‘I do not know what half of these rooms are,’ admitted Eino, casting lamp-glow and a reluctant gaze over a bedchamber. A rotting velvet canopy of indeterminate colour had collapsed over the sagging bed beneath, and
