Mina herself preferred it when she could deliberately control the Queen. It was a pain in the arse having a blatant tell when her temper was about to get the better of her. And there was nothing more undermining than suddenly sparkling in the middle of a heated debate.

As the glimmer faded, she started to roll up her sleeves, ready for work. Mina had a nasty, P-shaped scar on her left arm. A souvenir of a very bad burn from a branding iron.

"My magic is my own," she told Fortescue. "The Queen just...sometimes...complicates things."