‘This is hopeless,’ Lewis sighed, frustrated, as he slammed shut the huge leather-bound book in front of him, blinking as a small cloud of dust filled the air.

‘I never said we were going to find anything,’ Emily muttered from across the table without looking up from the book that sat open between them.

Since they had found out that George had been trying to reach Arcadia, they had spent the last five days alternating between the library and the jail, trying to get answers. Currently, it looked as if the books were going to tell them even less than Anthony.

No matter how many times Lewis tried to question him, he always got the same answer. Someone was coming soon. In the end, he gave up, assigning David and Louise to monitor Anthony in case he decided to start talking. That left Lewis and Emily searching through the cavernous library for information about Arcadia.

So far, they haven’t managed to find anything useful. Arcadia was rarely mentioned in any of the historical records, and more often than not, it was only because it had been Arden Vandemark’s birthplace.

‘Lewis!’

Turning at the sound of his name, he saw Louise walking towards the table where they were seated. ‘Has he started talking?’ he asked desperately.

‘No, I just came to tell you that your family has arrived from The Green Valley,’ Louise said as she stopped at the end of the table, her eyes lingering on the heavy books that sat between Lewis and Emily. ‘Have you found anything?’

‘Nothing,’ Lewis muttered darkly as he stood up. ‘Where are they?’

‘In the entrance hall. I should be getting back to the jail,’ Louise said as she turned away. As she walked towards the door, he saw her looking up at the high bookshelves that lined either side of the path to the centre of the library.

‘You should go,’ Emily said, looking up at him when he didn’t set off after Louise. ‘I’ll keep searching.’

‘We aren’t going to get anywhere here,’ Lewis said. ‘Besides, I need to introduce you to my family. We didn’t really get the chance last time.’

For a moment, Emily hesitated nervously. ‘Are you sure?’

‘Of course,’ Lewis insisted as he moved around the table, holding out a hand to pull her up.

With a nervous smile, she allowed him to pull her to her feet. It had never occurred to Lewis that Emily had never met any of his family. In fact, the only one who had even seen her was his uncle, Samuel, and that had only been for a few seconds. Commander Redmond had appeared a moment later, and Lewis had bundled Emily out of the door again. Why hadn’t he thought about it before?

‘Do we have to do this now?’ Emily asked. Despite the reluctance in her voice, she allowed him to lead her out of the library by the hand.

‘You’ll be fine,’ Lewis said as they walked down the narrow corridor that led to the entrance hall. A little way ahead of them, he could hear the voices of the castle staff bustling around.

Since he had been living in the castle, he had found that the only time the castle ever got close to being quiet was in the middle of the night. Even then, he had come across the odd person roaming the dark corridors.

As they climbed the couple of steps that led up to the entrance hall, Lewis caught sight of the stairs on the opposite side of the room that led down to the jail. For a moment, he thought he saw Louise disappearing down them before his view was obscured by a passing servant.

‘There,’ Lewis muttered, pointing towards the centre of the entrance hall.

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Standing amongst the steady stream of guards and staff, he spotted his mother, her head tilted slightly upward as she took in the room. Beside her stood Maria, Lewis’ grandmother and the former owner of the Hargrove bakery. On their other side, standing amongst a pile of bags and cases were Lewis’ aunt and uncle, Christine and Samuel, both of them looking around in wonder at the castle.

‘Lewis!’ someone shouted. Before he had even realised she was there, Robyn had jumped over the baggage and run across the hall, throwing her arms around him. Hugging her back, Lewis looked over Robyn’s shoulder, offering the servants she had almost knocked over an apologetic smile.

‘I didn’t know you were coming with my family,’ he said as he released her.

‘I wasn't, but I saw them in the city,’ Robyn explained, offering Emily a bright smile, which she returned uncertainly. ‘When I saw them, I knew you must be back.’

‘Robyn, this is Emily. Emily, this is Robyn Steele; she used to work at the bakery with my grandparents before it was burned down last Frost,’ Lewis said quickly.

‘So, you’re the one he wanted me to help escape if he didn’t survive,’ Robyn said, turning to Emily and looking her up and down quickly. ‘I knew you must be someone special.’

‘Thanks, I think?’ Emily said, glancing at Lewis awkwardly.

‘They look a little lost, don’t they? Robyn muttered as she glanced in the direction of Lewis’ family, who were still standing in the middle of the entrance hall, unsure if they should approach them.

‘Come on,’ Lewis said, taking Emily’s hand again as they weaved their way through the crowd.

‘Lewis,’ his mother said excitedly, breaking ranks first as she hurried over, her blonde hair streaming out behind her as she met him half way.

‘Hi mom,’ he replied, returning her bone-crushing hug.

‘Not a bad place you’ve got here,’ a voice said, impressed. Releasing his mother, Lewis looked up to see a boy with dark hair who was a couple of years older than him. ‘My parents said you were living in a castle; I couldn’t miss that,’ he laughed as he stepped forward, clapping Lewis on the back.

‘Of course you couldn’t,’ Lewis said, rolling his eyes. His name was Matthew, Lewis’ only cousin. Whenever he had visited their grandmother in the city, he had spent hours staring up at the castle, trying to find a way he could get in.

‘So, who’s this then?’ Matthew asked, turning his attention to Emily, who had been trying to stay out of sight behind Lewis and Robyn.

‘Emily, this is my cousin, Matthew, and my mother, Kathrine,’ Lewis said as he introduced them. ‘My aunt and uncle, Christine and Samuel Hargrove, and my grandmother, Maria Hargrove, used to own the bakery. This is Emily Bridwell.’

‘Hello,’ Emily said nervously as Lewis pulled her forward.

‘It’s nice to meet you; Lewis told me all about you in his letter,’ Kathrine said, giving Emily a brief hug. Her comment earned Lewis a reproachful look from Emily, but he just smiled back at her.

‘I should get going,’ Robyn muttered vaguely as she watched Lewis’ family introduce themselves to Emily one by one.

‘You could always stay here, you know, you and your family,’ Lewis offered, one eye on Emily as he talked to Robyn.

‘Can you do that?’

‘I don’t really know,’ Lewis admitted. He hadn’t thought about what he could and couldn’t do now that he was supposed to be running the kingdom. ‘I suppose I can do what I like, really.’

‘Lewis, did you find Charles?’ Maria asked as she appeared in front of him. At her question, Robyn dismissed herself with a wave. He also noticed Emily trying to slip away, but he managed to catch her by the arm.

‘We did. I’m sorry, Maria; I couldn’t do anything. They took him out to be executed when we were locked in the jail here,’ Lewis said, his hand finding Emily’s and squeezing it tightly as he tried not to remember the sight of Charles being led away, broken and bruised.

For a moment, Maria stood in frozen silence, and then, ever so slowly, a tear rolled down her cheek. In an instant, Lewis’ mother was at her side, trying to comfort her.

‘Did he say anything?’ She choked through her sobs.

‘I told him that you were safe,’ Lewis said. ‘He said that was all that mattered to him.’

Lewis had hoped that Charles’ last words might have offered her some comfort, but she only started to sob louder. One by one, the family gathered around her, trying to offer their sympathies.

‘I should let you be with your family,’ Emily whispered as she made to pull her hand away from his.

‘I want you to stay, please,’ Lewis said. ‘There was something else, something you should know. He said it wasn’t a hunting accident that killed my father.’

‘What?’ Kathrine asked as she tried to wipe away her own tears.

‘Someone murdered him,’ Lewis said as he felt his own tears finally break free, leaving hot streaks down his cheeks. ‘We think we know who did it. We’ll catch his killer; there are people trying to find him right now.’

‘It’s alright,’ Emily muttered gently as she took her hand out of his, pulling him into a hug instead, which he gratefully returned. Over her shoulder, he watched as his mother tried to cope with the loss of not only her father but also the revelation about her husband’s death. Apparently not all family reunions were happy occasions, he thought as he looked at the servants passing by, their eyes tactfully averted from the scene in the centre of the entrance hall.