‘What did he say in that one?’ the Pussum asked, leaning forward, her dark, soft hair falling and swinging against her face. There was something curiously indecent, obscene, about her small, longish, dark skull, particularly when the ears showed.

‘Wait — oh do wait! NO-O, I won’t give it to you, I’ll read it aloud. I’ll read you the choice bits, — hic! Oh dear! Do you think if I drink water it would take off this hiccup? HIC! Oh, I feel perfectly helpless.’

‘Isn’t that the letter about uniting the dark and the light — and the Flux of Corruption?’ asked Maxim, in his precise, quick voice.

‘I believe so,’ said the Pussum.

‘Oh is it? I’d