In the darkness of his cell, Lewis sat in silence, each detail of Edmund’s plan running through his mind as he tried to remember everything that he had been told. Since Emily had been led away, there hadn’t been a single sound in the jail. In the end, Lewis took to fiddling with the chain of the amulet as the minutes dragged by. He only hoped the guard would turn up before it was too late.

As if on cue, he heard the sound of the door at the end of the corridor swing open. Getting to his feet, he walked over to the door of his cell, peering out into the corridor. A single guard was walking down the corridor towards his cell, the ring of keys on his belt jangling loudly.

‘Your plate?’ he asked when he stopped outside Lewis’ cell. With a nod, Lewis turned to the battered metal plate that was sitting on his bed. It was empty except for half a dozen bones that he had pulled from the chicken when the meal had been delivered earlier.

Picking it up, he held it out to the guard as he unlocked the cell door, taking a couple of steps inside the cell to take the plate.

‘She was the only one who ever seemed to stand up to him,’ the guard said tiredly as he retreated from Lewis’ cell, glancing at the empty cell next to his.

With the plate in one hand, he shut the cell door with the other, hooking the ring of keys back on to his belt. Despite what Edmund had said, Lewis closed his eyes, holding his breath as he waited for the sound of the bolt on the cell door to click again.

When it didn’t come after a few seconds, he opened his eyes. The guard was gone. In the distance, he could hear his weary footsteps disappearing down the corridor. It had happened just as Edmund had said it would.

Pulling the amulet from underneath his dirty shirt, he looked at it carefully. How on earth was he supposed to know if it worked? he wondered as he looked out at the corridor. If it was all a lie, he would wander into the middle of the courtroom in front of who knows how many people in plain sight.

Hope was all he had. What did it matter if it didn’t work? If he stayed in his cell, he and Emily would both end up being executed anyway. Looking down at the amulet, he pressed the black stone with one finger.

Instantly, he felt the amulet grow cold in his hands. Slowly, the coldness spread up the chain until he felt it around the back of his neck, flowing across his skin until it reached the tips of his toes. Here goes nothing, he thought as he gently opened the unlocked cell door. Now he just had to find the courtroom.

Stepping into the corridor, he looked first one way and then the other. There was no sign of anyone. As quietly as he could, he crept down the corridor, heading in the same direction that he had seen Emily disappear earlier.

Edmund had said that the courtroom was two floors above where the jail was. All he had to do was find a staircase that led upwards. He was sure that he would be able to hear something when he got close to the courtroom.

Just as he was about to reach for the door handle, it crashed open, barely missing him. Jumping aside, he flattened himself against the bars of one of the cells as two guards strode through. Holding his breath, he watched them pass. The amulet must be working, he concluded when they didn’t notice him.

‘I don’t know why they want him brought up to the courtroom now,’ one of the guards said. ‘They haven’t even finished the girl’s trial yet.’

‘It won’t be long, though,’ the other replied as they strode down the hall, their voices echoing off the stone walls. ‘I expect it’ll all be over by the time we get back.’

Lewis felt his stomach drop. Emily’s trial was almost over. Grabbing hold of the door just before it could swing shut, he slipped through. By the time he had reached the narrow staircase at the end of the corridor, he had almost broken into a run, no longer worrying about the sound of his footsteps.

Taking the stairs two at a time, he froze when he heard voices in the entrance hall. Standing in the centre of the huge room was a little girl with long red hair who looked like she was only eight or nine. Standing in front of her was an older, red-haired woman who looked like her mother.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

‘Lillian, you need to go to bed,’ the woman insisted as she crouched down in front of the girl.

‘But she didn’t do it! She wouldn’t,’ the little girl cried angrily as she tried to head for a staircase that led to the floor above. ‘Can’t you do something?’

‘You know I can’t,’ the little girl’s mother said gently. ‘Your father has to do his job.’

‘But she didn’t do it!’ Lillian whined.

‘Come on, you need to go to bed; it’s very late,’ the woman insisted as she tried to wipe her daughters’ tears from her cheeks.

Reluctantly, the little girl allowed her mother to drag her down one of the corridors that led off the entrance hall. As soon as he was sure that they were out of earshot, Lewis turned to the staircase that the girl had been trying to go up, hurrying forward. She must have been trying to see Emily when her mother caught her.

Just as he reached the top of the stairs, he heard a shout from the hall below him. The two guards who had passed him on the way out of jail were standing in the hallway.

‘Go and alert the guards; I’ll find Anthony,’ one shouted, turning to the stairs that Lewis was standing at the top of. Ducking into the first room he reached, he heard someone shout from behind a door on the other side of the room.

Cornered between the two shouts, he looked around the room for somewhere to hide when he remembered that he was invisible. Holding his breath, he stood as close to the door as he could without being in the way as the guard appeared in the doorway, breathing heavily. In a dozen big strides, he crossed the room, wrenching the door open right next to Lewis. As the guard hurried through, Lewis slipped into the room behind him, careful not to touch the door.

He realised the courtroom was packed as he vaguely heard the door swing shut behind him. As the guard disappeared around the corner of one of the raised benches, Lewis spotted Emily. She was sitting in a chair in the centre of the room, her hair hanging down to hide her face as she stared at her hands in her lap.

‘Miss Bridwell, this court— the man sat at the desk before her started, breaking off when he saw the guard approaching. ‘What are you doing here? Can’t you see I’m busy?’

‘It’s urgent, Anthony,’ the guard said. Making the most of the distraction, Lewis hurried forward as quietly as he could. When he reached Emily, he crouched down beside her, looking up at the crowded courtroom. Standing at the very back, he saw Edmund watching Emily intently. Everyone else seemed more interested in the guard who had just burst in, a hum of chatter beginning to rise while he conferred with the man sitting at the desk.

‘Don’t move,’ Lewis whispered softly in her ear, his eyes focused on Anthony.

Jumping in surprise, her head twitched to the side at the sound of his voice. Holding his breath, he glanced around to see if anyone else had noticed her jump.

‘You did what?’ shouted Anthony as he stood up.

‘I don’t know how it happened,’ the guard said quickly.

‘How could he have just vanished into thin air? he demanded as he turned to the guards behind him.

‘I’m going to get you out of here,’ Lewis whispered, lifting the chain, ready to drop it over her head as soon as he got the opportunity.

‘Lock down the castle!’ Anthony shouted. ‘Find Hargrove and get him in here. Now!’

For a moment there was complete silence, and then, as one, the guards who had been filling the benches around the courtroom all rose to their feet, charging in the direction of the door that Lewis had entered the courtroom through.

As the guards hurried between him and Anthony, Lewis pulled the chain over Emily’s head. Letting go of it, he grabbed her hand, pulling her out of the chair quickly as he tried to find a way between the guards as he headed for the door.

In the chaos, none of them noticed as Lewis and Emily were buffeted around between them, invisible. Just as they made it through the door, Lewis heard a shout from the courtroom.

‘Where did she go?’ Anthony screamed. ‘Find her!’

Pulling Emily to one side, he moved them out of the path of the guards. They didn’t stand a chance of making it down the stairs amongst the guards for now, he thought as he watched dozens of them charging past.

‘How?’ Emily whispered, looking up at him in surprise. Lifting a hand, he clamped it over her mouth as Anthony, Edmund, and George strode out of the room after the guards.

‘Lock down the front gates,’ Anthony said quickly. ‘I want guards in the city searching for him. He does not get out of this city alive!’

‘What about the girl?’ George said.

‘Search the lower floors first; they always head down when they try to escape,’ Edmund said. ‘There are no other ways out of the castle that I know of.’

When the three of them had disappeared down the stairs, Lewis took his hand away from her mouth. ‘Where is The King’s office?’ he asked urgently.

‘Five floors above us,’ she replied, her confusion showing on her face. ‘We’ll never get out of here; there are guards everywhere.’

‘Get us to The King’s Office,’ Lewis said. ‘I’ll get us out of here.’

Looking at him sceptically, she pulled him towards the staircase that led upwards, out of the office, as they heard voices in the corridor outside.