If you live on our island, you know this already: the royal family has four special bodyguards. They dress in all black and live in the shadows. They are ever-present phantoms, clearing a path of total safety. When Alameda and I were “alone” in the loft, one or more of them was probably listening in.

When the king died at my table, the Shadow Force, as they are officially or unofficially called, immediately began the task of figuring out what happened. They must have determined that the king’s wine had been poisoned. Since I was literally the only person who had been near the new glass of wine, it must have been me. I have to admit, it is logical.

It was my friend Mollyanna who broke the news. She came into my bedroom and shook me rather violently. Judging by the location of the moon, I had only just gotten to sleep. It’s not easy to get to sleep on a night when the king dies at your table.

“Get up, now!” she whisper-screamed. “They want to talk to you. They think you did it.”

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“Did what?” I whisper-screamed in return.

“Killed the king!”

“What?” That was the only word I could think of at the time. Mollyanna was grabbing my clothes and heading for the window.

“Yeah, you had access to the wine,” she said. “And they think it was poison, not natural causes. Let’s go!”

I went. There was a drop of about four feet from my window to the ledge below, and I wasn’t wearing any shoes. For that matter, I wasn’t wearing anything but my underwear, and it was chilly out. Mollyanna crawled out the window gracefully. I did not. She hung from the windowsill and dropped down like a feather. I hung from the windowsill and dropped down like a brick. I hit my head.

Mollyanna threw my clothes over the ledge and into the darkness.

“Go get ‘em,” she said. “Then run. Use the Code of 8 and let me know when you get where you are going.” She wrapped her arms around me and kissed me on the cheek. At least that’s the way I remember it. I was concussed.

Mollyanna turned toward the stairs up to the girls’ quarters.

“Wait!” I whisper-screamed. “How do I get down?”

“Bonnaver Lake,” she said in her normal voice. I guess she wanted to make sure I heard it. She flew up the stairs with the speed of many horses. I have not seen her since.