It was with a great sigh of relief that Lewis watched Tristan come into view. Neither of them said it, but he could tell Emily and Arthur were glad to be back as well. Having left the horses at the stable just outside the city, they proceeded on foot. They had all agreed that they wanted to attract as little attention as possible.

Despite gatecrashing Anthony’s coronation, Lewis was still able to move through the city with a certain anonymity. The few people who were wandering the streets as the sun began to set were more interested in their own business.

‘I can’t wait for a decent meal,’ Arthur said as they approached the castle.

‘Of course you can’t,’ Emily muttered, rolling her eyes when she glanced in Lewis’ direction.

‘What? It’s been three days since we’ve eaten properly,’ he whined.

They may not have been forced to forage off the land like they had on many occasions, but some of the meals they had eaten in the run-down taverns had left a lot to be desired at times. Not wanting to get involved in the sibling dispute, Lewis kept quiet despite agreeing with Arthur. He was looking forward to the castle meals again.

‘We were starting to get worried about you three,’ someone said as they entered the courtyard. In a flurry of movement, Lewis was engulfed in a bundle of blonde hair. ‘Welcome back.’

When he finally managed to escape the bone-crushing hug, he found himself standing in front of Louise and Captain Caldwell. ‘It’s good to have you back,’ Captain Caldwell said, extending a hand to Lewis.

‘How long have you been back?’ Lewis asked, shaking his hand.

‘I got back almost a week ago,’ he replied. ‘Speaking of people arriving in Tristan, there’s something that you should see. Come on.’

‘You found George?’ Lewis said in surprise.

‘No, no one has seen hide nor hair of him since Porthton,’ Captain Caldwell said.

When they entered the castle, they found the usually chaotic entrance hall motionless. At the centre of the crowd were raised voices, one of which he recognised as Thomas.

‘He isn’t here now, is he?’ Another voice demanded. It took him a moment to realise that it was Edmund speaking. ‘Just chuck them outside the walls. If he ever shows up, he can go find them himself.’

‘Who isn’t here?’ Lewis said, pushing his way through the crowd with Captain Caldwell at his side.

‘Lewis,’ Thomas said brightly, glancing at his brother with a smirk. ‘I’m sorry, I was just informing my brother that he will not be removing your guests from the city.’

‘I wasn’t aware I had any guests coming,’ Lewis said as he looked around the crowd made up of castle staff and some Vandemark family members.

‘See, I told you,’ Edmund snapped. ‘I’ll get them out of here.’

‘Where are they?’ he asked.

‘Hello, Lewis,’ a man said as he stepped out of the crowd. Standing in a deep red cloak was Edward. Behind him were at least two dozen others, the majority in red, with a handful wearing white cloaks.

‘Edward, what are you all doing here?’ he asked. What were The Dawn and their students doing in Tristan? The last time he had seen any of them was when they were fleeing the falling tower.

‘We are here to serve as your guards. Or trying to,’ Edward said with a glare in Edmund’s direction.

‘Tristan has guards, as I’m sure you saw on your way into the city,’ Lewis said. As far as he was concerned, any association with The Dawn was not a good idea.

‘I am aware,’ he said. Taking a couple of steps forward, Edward dropped to one knee. ‘But we are not here to guard the city; we are here to protect you. Our purpose, above educating young precursors, has always been to seek out the true precursor. You are the true precursor, the one who can save us from the darkness that the prophecy predicts. We are at your service, all of us.’

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

‘Did you know Ellen survived? The night the tower fell, she escaped. She chased us all the way to Porthton. Cassandra died at her hands; she died to protect me,’ Lewis said. ‘Where were you then? Where were you when I needed you?’

‘I know that you suffered at her hands, but...

‘You saw the scars your people left on me. I bet half of them have scars as well!’ Lewis shouted, pointing at the students who were trying to shrink into the crowd.

‘We did everything we could to try and protect them; we always have,’ Edward said quickly.

‘Well, you didn’t do enough, did you?’ Lewis demanded.

‘No,’ Edward said quietly, looking at the floor.

‘The Dusk managed to infiltrate the tower; how do I know that you haven’t led them through the gates of this city as well?’ he asked.

Edward remained silent; his eyes still downcast. No one in the entrance hall made a sound as he stood over Edward.

‘I will not put this city at risk; the people have already suffered enough at the hands of The Dusk’s spectres,’ Lewis said as he looked from one teacher to the next, eyeing the students. Moving around Edward, he walked towards the others. ‘You, what’s your name?’ he asked, picking on the woman who looked to be about forty and wore a white cloak.

‘Ingrid,’ she said nervously.

‘How long were you at the tower, Ingrid?’ He asked gently.

‘Sixty-two and a half years.’

‘In those years, how many teachers did you have?’

‘Maybe thirty in total,’ Ingrid said, looking up at him.

‘Did any of them ever use the chains on you?’ he asked.

‘Some of them did.’

‘Are any of those teachers who tortured you here today?’ Lewis said, watching the red-cloaked group out of the corner of his eye for any reaction.

‘One,’ she muttered so quietly that he barely heard her.

Before Lewis could ask her to identify the one who had tortured her, a man in a cloak darker than Edward’s burst from the group, a fireball flying in Lewis’ direction. Ducking, the ball of flames flew over his head, crashing into the wall beside the entrance to the dining hall.

Despite the trained guards in the entrance hall, none of their swords had even left their sheathes before Captain Caldwell had moved out of the crowd. With a single swing of his sword, he severed the man's head completely. For a moment, the rest of his body stood, wobbling slightly, before collapsing to the floor as blood poured from his neck.

Still on one knee, the severed head rolled to a stop in front of Edward. As white as the marble floor on which he knelt, Edward looked up. ‘I didn’t know, I swear.’

‘Some guards,’ Captain Caldwell muttered as he wiped the blood from his blade before sheathing it once more.

‘That was the one who tortured you?’ Lewis asked, turning to Ingrid. Silently, she nodded. ‘Did any of them torture you?’ he asked, turning to the other students. Slowly, one by one, they shook their heads. With a nod, Lewis turned his attention back to Edward.

‘I swear I didn’t know,’ he pleaded.

Lewis held up a hand to silence him. ‘You led a man who would do us all harm within these walls,’ he said as he considered the man before him. Despite what had just happened, Lewis believed that Edward hadn’t known. The Dusk had been fooling everyone at the tower for decades. ‘Why shouldn’t I have you all executed where you stand?’

‘Lewis,’ Thomas said quietly before Edward could reply. ‘A word, in private.’

Reluctantly, Lewis nodded, his eyes not leaving Edward. ‘If he so much as moves, execute him,’ Lewis said as he passed Captain Caldwell.

Captain Caldwell nodded. Drawing his sword once more, he moved forward, standing over Edward.

In silence, Lewis followed Thomas through the crowd and into the dining hall, shutting the door behind him. ‘Are you going to have him executed as well?’ Thomas asked bluntly.

‘I don’t know,’ Lewis said after a pause. ‘The Dusk fooled everyone for decades. What if he really didn’t know?’

‘That is what I thought,’ Thomas said. ‘I think it would be best to show restraint in this situation.’

‘You saw what happened; that fireball could have hit anyone,’ he said. ‘Who knows what might have happened if Captain Caldwell hadn’t been so quick?

‘I did,’ Thomas said. ‘Edward also mentioned the prophecy, though. None of us know what could be coming, but it sure as hell isn’t going to be bunny rabbits bringing sweets. You’ve seen what precursors can do; think about it. There are two dozen precursors standing on the other side of that door. Whatever might be coming, we’ll stand more of a chance with them than against them.’

‘What should we do then?’ Lewis asked.

‘They’ve all seen what happened when someone tried to attack you; they would have to be extremely foolish to try something like that again,’ Thomas said. ‘I say we let them stay but keep a very close eye on all of them, at least for now.’

‘Where do we put them, though? They’re a danger to the rest of the city, but I don’t want them roaming around the castle,’ Lewis said.

‘What about the barracks?’ Thomas suggested. ‘We can clear them a couple of rooms. They wouldn’t be in the city or the castle then. There would be guards around day and night to keep an eye on them as well.’

‘That’s a good idea,’ Lewis said. ‘I think we should let them dine in here, though. If we are going to need them to help us at some point in the future, we don’t want to turn them against us by locking them up in the barracks all the time.’

‘I agree,’ Thomas said with a nod. ‘There are a few guards that I would trust with my life; I’ll speak to them about changing their duties.’

‘We should sort this mess out. Literally, after what happened,’ Lewis said as he turned to the door. Had the people he cared about most not been in potentially life-threatening danger, he would have laughed.

‘Lewis?’ Thomas said. Lewis turned to see that Thomas hadn’t moved. ‘It’s good to have you back.’

‘It’s good to be back, believe me,’ he replied before he opened the door.