“It was early spring and the bonnets of bluebells were shooting up through the grass in the meadows, ringing in the silver moonlight. Down in the labs, Elizabeth’s incubator egg popped open…”

“Dawn was fast approaching and Edward had not slept a wink. The blue hour was upon Balmoral and the rough surface of the castle’s stone shone azure. Soon a narrow strip of burning orange would bring morning over the horizon. Everyone knew that today was the culling of the anomalies, and many were...

“The operating theatre was illuminated by blinding lights, from the very same robotic tendrils which had rotated around Elizabeth’s head a decade earlier. But now she was awake, and she could sense what was happening with a greater perception than any of the humans in the room. The printing nibs...