Anapa’s stare was naturally unsettling. The dark brown colour was nothing special, but there was a depth and intensity to it which tended to leave people feeling undressed. Add to that the silence with which he tended to regard most people, and the disinclination he felt to adjust his manner for the comfort of the living, and few could hold his gaze for an extended period.

Danny, whose colloquial name conjured an image which did not suit such a prestigious profession as medicine, did not seem disturbed – at least not by Anapa. Possibly he’d had forewarning from his colleagues or perhaps he was simply used to the manners of morticians if he regularly dealt with them coming to make collections. Or maybe there was something even odder than Anapa around here. Intrigued in spite of himself, Anapa leant in when Danny lowered his voice, studying his face with an unblinking stare. The doctor’s explanation made absolutely no sense. How could anyone – especially a doctor - be uncertain as to whether a woman was alive or dead? What was so complicated about dying? If death could be admired for anything, it was its simplicity.

Ever the aristocrat, Anapa kept his face under tight control, not allowing any of these emotions to seep out. The only sign of expression he gave Danny at all was a very slight crease of the forehead.

“No one in this castle is due to die today,” he said, with utter conviction and not quite softly enough. A passing nurse shot him an odd look and quickened her steps as she hurried off to her patient.

It was the truth, though. Anapa’s death sensing abilities were at best useful and at worst sickening, but they were infallible. He might not be sure of whens or hows or wheres or whos, but he did always know that death was coming. Today, at least in the castle, death was absent from the schedule.

He gave a very light shrug – a colloquial gesture he’d learned from Tahl – and straightened back up again.

“Lead the way,” he said simply, stepping back to allow Danny room to manoeuvre out from behind his desk. He fell into line behind the doctor as the latter led on.