It wasn’t long after Lewis had dismissed the guards from the office that Arthur, Amanda, and Thomas appeared in the doorway. Since then, the seven of them have taken the chairs from the outer office and sat around what is now Lewis’ desk, discussing everything that has happened since the coronation. At some point, several plates of food and a couple of bottles of wine appeared from somewhere, although no one had asked for them. Brushing it off as one of the things that just happened at the castle, Lewis tucked into the chicken pie on his plate.

‘So then Arthur goes to jump into the water as well, slips, and slides down the side of the little waterfall before rolling into the water at the bottom,’ Amanda laughed as she picked up the bottle of wine, topping up her glass. Around the desk, they all erupted into laughter, apart from Arthur. It seemed he was still nursing a bruised ego as well as a bruised shoulder from their adventures in Fir Forest a few days ago.

‘That really hurt, you know,’ Arthur muttered when they had quietened down a bit.

Spending time with David and Louise, as well as the late-night meals, reminded Lewis of his days when he had been training for the guard. It had been nearly two years since he had completed his training, and even longer since he had had the opportunity to spend time with his friends and relax. Picking up his glass, he drained the last of the wine, hesitating for a moment before he took the bottle from Amanda to refill his glass. He had already had three glasses. He considered it for a moment. Then again, he had almost died twice in the space of a week to get here; what difference could one more drink make?

‘He’s been sighted!’ someone shouted as Lewis raised the glass to his lips. Looking up, he saw his look of confusion reflected on the faces of the others. Feeling slightly fuzzy from all the wine, it was a moment before he spotted the young guard who had charged through the doorway and now stood over them, his messy brown hair sticking up all over the place.

‘What’s going on?’ Lewis asked, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. Around the desk, the others were trying to look more interested in the remains of their food than the guard.

‘He’s been sighted,’ the guard repeated.

‘Who?’ Lewis said.

‘George.’

As if someone had thrown a bucket of icy water over him, Lewis felt himself sober up at an alarming rate. In an instant, he forgot all about Arthur’s tale of misadventure. ‘Where?’

‘Belsey. He was trying to haggle with the captain of a ship in the port,’ the guard said quietly, eyeing the bottle of wine that Louise had just emptied into her glass.

‘Where was the ship going? Did he get on?’ Thomas asked, leaning in as he abandoned his conversation with David and Emily.

‘Winterrock, but he wasn’t interested in going there,’ he replied.

‘I didn’t think there was anything much that far north apart from Winterrock. Lewis said.

‘There isn’t,’ Thomas said. ‘Except for…’

‘Except for what?’ Lewis asked, turning to Thomas.

‘Arcadia.’

At the sound of the name, the entire room fell silent; whatever conversations had been taking place around the desk had been abandoned at the mention of Arcadia.

‘But Arcadia was destroyed in the war,’ Lewis said. ‘You said it yourself, Thomas.’

‘It was,’ Thomas said slowly. ‘Thank you for telling us; you can go now.’

Recognising his dismissal, the guard turned, hurrying out the door and disappearing around the corner. For a moment, the seven of them sat in silence, considering what they had just heard.

‘Why would he be going to Arcadia if it’s been destroyed?’ Emily asked, breaking the silence.

‘While you were away, I integrated myself back into the running of the castle in your place,’ Thomas said, glancing at Lewis quickly. ‘There were rumours coming in from sailors; apparently, they aren’t all recent either.

‘Winterrock is the northern point of the trade routes that exist between our kingdom and the Orian Empire. When I helped Sebastian set up the trade routes years ago, I worked with them to create a sort of circuit that ran between Belsey, Winterrock, Culden, Whitemire, and Whitecliff,’ Thomas explained. ‘It was a mutual agreement that allowed us to trade goods with them while allowing them to distribute their exports more freely.’

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

‘What does this have to do with Arcadia, though?’ Arthur asked.

‘Over the years, sailors working that route claim to have seen lights in the distance. Lights where Arcadia used to stand on the peninsular to the south east of Winterrock

‘But even if there were people in Arcadia, why would George go there?’ Lewis asked.

‘You have to remember that Arcadia was the largest city our world has ever seen, Lewis,’ Thomas said. ‘Though Arden might have somehow managed to destroy it, there is no knowing what might have been buried in the rubble.’

‘What could he be searching for? Precursors?’ Emily asked quietly.

‘I don’t know,’ Thomas muttered with a shake of his head. With everyone lost in their own thoughts, the room slipped into an uneasy silence again.

‘I guess we should be going to Arcadia then,’ Lewis sighed.

‘No,’ Thomas said quickly, shooting down Lewis’ suggestion. ‘If there is anything going on over there, then it would be far too dangerous. Besides, you would need a small army to get anywhere near the city if it’s anything like it used to be.’

‘What about Anthony, then? Maybe he knows something,’ Emily ventured after a couple of minutes, looking towards Thomas for approval.

‘That might be a good place to start,’ Thomas considered. ‘If they were working together to find the crown, then he might know something.

‘Where is Anthony?’ Lewis asked as he stood up, the rest of them following his lead.

‘We’ve been keeping him under guard in the jail ever since we caught him at the coronation,’ Thomas replied. ‘He doesn’t talk much, apparently.’

‘We’ll see about that,’ Lewis muttered bitterly as he headed for the stairs, pausing when Emily started heading in the opposite direction.

‘I know a quicker way,’ she said, beckoning for them to follow her. She had only gone a few feet down the corridor when she stopped. Pulling aside a tapestry, she led them through a doorway that stood at the top of a dark spiral staircase.

In what Lewis guessed was about five minutes, she had led them down six floors with the help of the concealed staircase and a dusty passageway. Lewis wondered how many more of these secret passages she knew about as he followed her down the familiar steps to the jail. How many were there that she didn’t know about? Making a mental note to ask her later, Lewis turned his attention to the two guards who were standing outside a brightly lit cell. Somewhere inside, there were quiet voices.

As they approached, the voices fell silent for a moment before there was an eerie crash. Quickening his pace, Lewis watched as the two guards outside the cell continued to stare into space.

‘What’s going on?’ Lewis demanded as he drew level with them, finally able to see inside the cell.

Tied to a wooden chair and covered in blood was Anthony, his face almost unrecognisable beneath the layers of bruising and a nose that looked like it had been broken half a dozen times. Standing over him was Commander Redmond, his fist still clenched and blood on his knuckles.

‘What are you doing?’ Lewis shouted, slamming the door open as he stepped into the cell.

‘We were trying to find out what George might be doing in Arcadia,’ Edmund said as he appeared from behind Commander Redmond.

‘This is how you plan to do it?’ Lewis asked as Commander Redmond grabbed Anthony’s chair, standing it up again.

‘Arcadia is a dangerous place; we need answers,’ Edmund said. ‘This is the best way.’

‘What answers is he going to give you when you beat him to death?’ Lewis said, stepping between Anthony and Commander Redmond as he prepared to hit him again.

‘He’s already been sentenced to death; what does it matter?’ Commander Redmond snapped, pushing Lewis aside.

‘I’m in charge now, and we’re doing it my way,’ Lewis said, stepping forward again.

‘It’s the only way,’ Commander Redmond shouted, kicking the leg of Anthony’s chair, which sent him spiralling across the cell. With a grunt, Anthony fell sideways as the chair toppled over.

‘Commander Redmond,’ Lewis said as he stepped in front of the huge man. ‘You are hereby stripped of your rank and discharged from the service of the castle for disobeying my orders.’

For a moment, Lewis was sure that Commander Redmond was going to hit him instead of Anthony, but Edmund ushered him quickly towards the door. Commander Redmond’s eyes didn’t leave Lewis for a second as he was led out into the corridor. ‘You’ll regret this,’ he spat as the guards tried to drag him away between them with great difficulty.

‘Did you just... fire Commander Redmond?’ David whispered as he watched him disappear.

‘I think so,’ Lewis said slowly.

‘Awesome!’ David said it excitedly. ‘Do you remember that guy from guard training, the really stuck-up one? Can you fire him as well?’

‘What?’ Lewis asked, taken aback.

‘Come on, no one likes him, please?’ David begged.

‘No, I’m not firing anyone else,’ Lewis said firmly. ‘He hasn’t done anything wrong.’

Leaving David to sigh heavily in the corridor, Lewis turned his attention back to Anthony, who was still lying on his side, tied to the chair. ‘Help me get him up,’ Lewis muttered to Edmund as he bent down to pick up the chair.

With Edmund’s help, they managed to straighten the chair up as Anthony’s head lolled to one side. Spotting a rag covered in dry blood on the floor, Lewis picked it up, wiping some of the fresh blood from Anthony’s face as gently as he could. Under the bruises, he winced.

‘I’m sorry,’ Lewis said. ‘I would have stopped him if I had known.’

Without saying a word, Anthony looked up at him, confusion clouding his eyes. ‘What do you want from me?’

‘I want to know what is in Arcadia,’ Lewis said, sitting down on the moth-eaten blanket that made up a poor excuse for a bed.

‘Arcadia was destroyed during the war; everyone knows that,’ Anthony muttered.

‘There are rumours that it is being built; George was heading there,’ Lewis said. ‘Why?’

‘He will be coming,’ Anthony muttered.

Who? George?’ Lewis asked.

Slowly, Anthony shook his head. ‘He will be coming soon.’

‘Who will be coming?’

‘He will be coming,’ Anthony repeated.

‘That’s all we were able to get out of him too,’ Edmund said quietly as he considered Anthony.

‘Anyone have any idea who he’s talking about?’ Lewis asked as Anthony began muttering to himself. When no one answered, Lewis turned and walked out of the cell again. ‘We’ll try again in the morning,’ Lewis said tiredly as he closed the cell door behind Edmund.