‘Lewis! What’s going on?’ Emily shouted from somewhere in the darkness.

‘Just stay still,’ he called back as calmly as he could. He carefully felt around him, trying to find the statue he had been standing beside when she had dropped the lamp. When he felt the rough stone beneath his fingers, he used it to guide him back towards the room that held the remains of his distant relatives.

Stumbling down the small step behind the statue, he just about managed to stop himself from falling over. As he straightened up again, there was a roar, and the chamber suddenly filled with light.

‘Lewis? Where are you?’ Emily called.

‘It’s okay; I’m still here,’ he assured her as he walked around the back of the statues. Along each side of the room was a stone trough filled with fire, with a mound of rubble piled up behind it. ‘You’ve walked into the middle of a guard board.’

‘What do we do?’ she asked quickly, the look of fear on her face seeming to enter her voice.

‘Just stay still for a minute,’ he repeated calmly as he scrambled over the rubble until he reached the top. ‘I need you to try and stay calm.’

‘It’s alright for you; you’re not the one down here,’ she snapped. ‘I know what those pieces in Fir Lodge did to each other.’

‘Emily, please,’ Lewis said quietly. ‘Let me think.’

‘About what?’

‘What to do? Lewis snapped back. ‘I need to concentrate. Your life is in my hands right now!’

‘What do you mean?’ she asked, looking up at him where he stood on top of a pile of rubble at the side of the board.

‘I think we have to play the game,’ he said slowly as he scanned the pieces on the board.

‘Well, it’s our go. What if you just move me back until I can get off the board?’ she suggested hopefully as she eyed the opposing archer warily.

‘I can’t move you backwards,’ he said. ‘I don’t know the exact rules for this set, but if you surrendered the game with the set at Fir Lodge, all the pieces would disintegrate. I’m not taking that chance.’

‘Okay, bad idea. Sorry,’ she said. ‘What do I do?’

‘It seems like you’ve taken the place of the missing Warrior on our side of the board,’ he said as he counted the pieces in his head. Looking around, he spotted the huge stone swords that were still intact lying at the side of the board. ‘Take this,’ he said, scrambling down the side of the rubble heap towards it.

Compared to what he had been expecting, it was much lighter than it looked. Making sure he wouldn’t slip, he grasped the sword carefully, throwing it with all the strength he could muster towards Emily. With a deafening crash, it landed on the board, sliding to a stop a couple of places from the triangle where she stood.

Wincing at the sound of it hitting the floor, she made to move towards it. ‘No,’ Lewis shouted just in time. ‘Leave it for now.’

‘Alright,’ she said, staying inside her triangle. ‘What happens now?’

‘We play,’ Lewis said slowly. Emily had taken the place of the missing Warrior that stood in the centre of the front row. That made her Warrior Three. Deciding that it was best to make sure that this set worked the same way as the one he had owned, he looked down at the row of four Shields that sat on either side of the empty space she had left, the fifth Shield sitting behind where she had been. ‘Okay, Shield Four, forward two,’ he said loudly.

To his relief, the Shield to the right of Emily’s starting position moved forward two spaces. As it slid along the ground, it pushed the sword close enough to Emily that she could reach it. Bending down, she picked it up, careful not to move outside her triangle.

Climbing back to his vantage point on top of the rubble, Lewis watched the opposing Warrior move forward two more spaces so that it was directly in front of the Shield he had just moved. In a single, remarkably fluid motion, the Warrior drew his sword, swinging it at the Shield.

With a deafening bang, the sword hit the stone Shield. Screaming, Emily ducked, covering her head as the Shield exploded into thousands of pieces. Chunks of stone the size of Lewis’ body flew through the air as if they were suddenly weightless.

‘Lewis, I’m scared,’ Emily said quietly as she stood up. From where he stood, he could see tears rolling down her dust-covered cheeks as the pieces of the broken Shield slid off the board, joining the heaps of rubble.

Swallowing, Lewis looked down at her. ‘So am I.’

‘If I don’t get out of this,

‘We’re getting out of here. Both of us,’ he insisted before she could finish. ‘Archer Two, forward two. Take Warrior Three.’

After a moment’s pause, the Archer strode forward. When it reached its new position, it drew an arrow, firing it at the Warrior that had just destroyed the Shield. With a satisfying crash, it struck the Warrior, blasting it to pieces. Smiling, Lewis sat down on the pile of rubble.

‘Come on,’ he muttered nervously as he started to plan his next series of moves.

Between his instructions and the sound of pieces being destroyed, the only sound that broke the silence was the occasional scream from Emily when a piece exploded near her. For the most part, he tried to keep the action as far away from her as possible, but it wasn’t always possible.

On a couple of occasions, he only realised at the last second that one of the enemy Warriors had a chance to get within range of striking her. Fortunately, there had been another piece close by to deal with the threat. Despite her screams, the shower of dust and rubble was much better than the alternative.

He had no idea how long the game had been going on. All he knew was that the piles of broken pieces were beginning to mount up. With a smile, he watched as the second opposing Archer was destroyed by his Warrior, the broken pieces sliding off the board to join their fallen comrades. Why on earth would they let his Warrior take the archer? he wondered. The Archer was the most dangerous piece on the board because of the range from which it could do damage.

‘Shield One, forward, Lewis began, freezing midsentence. That was why he suddenly realised as he jumped to his feet.

‘Lewis?’ Emily said it questioningly as she looked up at him worriedly.

Waving a hand to silence her, he stared down at the board. How had he not seen it before? The enemy Archer had been sacrificed on purpose. He had been placed in a trap. The King’s Trap, to be precise.

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‘What’s wrong?’ Emily asked. He didn’t need to be able to see his reflection to know that all the colour had drained from his face. What has he done? ‘Lewis, talk to me, please!’ Emily shouted.

‘I knew it was too easy,’ he muttered, cursing himself.

‘What happened?’

‘They sacrificed their Archer so that they could put us in a trap. The King’s Trap,’ he said as he stared down at the board, shaking his head at his own stupidity.

‘Okay,’ Emily said slowly. It was evident that she had no idea what it meant for her. ‘Can you still win the game?’

‘Yes,’ he replied, taking a deep breath.

‘Then what’s the problem?’ she asked.

‘You.’

‘What?’ she said, taken aback.

‘If I had made the move that I was planning to, then that would have left the Warrior opposite you with a choice. Take you or the Shield I had just moved. If it takes you, then that leaves us with one Warrior and one Archer,’ he explained. ‘After that, it leaves both of them out of range to take that Warrior. Neither of our shields can do any damage, so the enemy Warrior could just wait until I’m forced to move my Warrior or Archer. After that, it can take both and end the game.’

‘But you said you could win,’ Emily said in confusion.

‘I can,’ he said.

‘But I can take the Warrior, can’t I?’ Emily said.

‘You can, but you’re in range of the Tower,’ Lewis pointed out. ‘Even if the Warrior takes the Shield, then the Tower will be able to take you.’

‘I can’t get out of this then,’ Emily said slowly as she looked between the Tower and the Warrior.

‘There is one option,’ Lewis said slowly.

‘Which is?’

‘I make my original move, and we hope that the enemy Warrior goes for the Shield,’ Lewis said. ‘After that, I would be able to move our other Shield in front of you. Then it all depends on the set we’re playing against. Either the Tower takes you or it tries to take the Shield.’

‘And you can win the game regardless of what happens?’ she asked as she turned to face him.

‘If the Warrior goes for the Shield instead of you, easily. If not, then it will be a lot more difficult,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry, I should have seen this coming a mile off. My father taught me this when I was eleven. He put me in this same trap and then showed me the way out of it. I could never get the escape to work with our set, though.’

‘Never?’

‘Not once,’ Lewis sighed. ‘If I were playing against him, he knew that taking the Warrior would all but win him the game. Towards the end, I learned how to beat him despite it.’

‘You can still win then, without me,’ Emily said as she turned to face the Warrior.

‘I said I would get you out of this,’ Lewis said.

‘Lewis, please. Listen to me,’ she said. ‘The crown is sitting on top of the enemy castle. You have to win the game, whatever the cost.’

‘I’m not sacrificing you just for the crown!’ Lewis shouted back.

‘Yes, you are! You said it yourself; whatever you do now, my life depends on the feelings of a bunch of giant statues,’ she argued back.

‘That doesn’t mean I can do it!’

‘Lewis, you have to. The whole world as we know it depends on this. What is my life compared to that?’ she said.

‘It matters to me!’ he shouted at her.

‘I don’t matter! I’ve never mattered to anyone. I’m just some orphan girl that Sebastian took in for some unknown reason,’ Emily said.

‘You matter to me.’

‘Please, just do what you have to before I do it for you,’ she said quietly. ‘Do one thing for me, though. If the Warrior does take the shield, promise me you’ll get behind that pile of rubble.’

‘Are you sure?’ he whispered, his eyes not daring to leave her for a second. Who knew how much longer they would have?

‘Do it.’

‘Shield Four, forward one,’ Lewis said, his voice breaking as he tried to hold back his tears. He had to be strong. For Emily. At least while she could see. Slowly, the shield slid forward the one space Lewis had ordered it to, coming to a stop two spaces away from the enemy Warrior.

What happened next seemed to take an eternity, as if the opposing Warrior was considering its options. Ever so slowly, it turned towards the Shield. In two quick strides, it crossed the empty space, bringing down the giant sword and slicing the Shield cleanly in half.

Even as far away as he was standing, he thought he heard Emily exhale softly as the dust settled. The first decision had gone their way. It was the more likely of the two to go their way, but it had. He almost felt like celebrating, at least until he saw Emily glance over at him.

‘You promised me,’ she whispered.

Taking a moment to memorise the move he needed to make, he stood atop the pile of rubble, staring down at Emily. She seemed to be so calm. He watched as she closed her eyes, turning away from him.

‘You promised me,’ she whispered again with a slight nod of her head.

Reluctantly, he turned away from the board and took a couple of steps down the pile of rubble. Just as the top of the heap was about to obscure his view of the board, he glanced back. She was looking up at the ceiling. It might have looked like that, at least, but he had a feeling somewhere deep down that she wasn’t seeing the ceiling.

‘Shield One, forward two!’ he called as he closed his eyes. Taking one more step, he sat down, slumping against the rubble as he listened to the sound of the Shield sliding forward. Eventually, the sound stopped.

This was it.

Screwing his eyes shut as tightly as he could, he heard the crackling of the energy ball forming at the top of the Tower. It seemed to take an eternity. Longer than the time it had taken the Warrior to decide if that was possible. He couldn’t take it anymore. He had to see her one more time if it was going to be the last time.

Opening his eyes, Lewis scrambled up the heap of rubble, the jagged stone tearing at his skin. He didn’t feel it, though. Just as he reached the top, a ball of energy shot from the Tower towards Emily and the Shield beside her.

For the eternity that it had taken for this moment to come, he barely saw what happened next.

Emily’s scream reverberated around the chamber as she ducked, her red hair flashing in the firelight as her arms covered her head instinctively. There was a blinding flash of light and a deafening bang; the shockwave knocked Lewis off balance, sending him tumbling down the heap of rubble away from the board. As he tried to stop himself, he heard the grey energy ball shooting through the air before it collided with something that shook the whole tomb. Covering his head, he felt chunks of rock falling on him.

Then there was silence—nothing but silence.

Curled up into a foetal position to protect himself from the falling debris, Lewis just lay there, listening to the silence. What had he done? he thought as the tears finally broke free. How was he supposed to get up and finish the game without Emily? He couldn’t even stomach the thought of what he might find on the other side of the bank of rubble. Instead, he decided he would stay here.

Maybe Thomas would find a way into the tomb. Maybe he would find Lewis covered in dust lying amongst the rubble. Maybe he wouldn’t get in. Perhaps this was the end. In the end, he would be where he belonged. The Tomb of Kings The resting place of those who once wore the crown and of him, the one who was supposed to wear it but never would, He had failed. Closing his eyes as tight as possible, he tried to let himself sink into the silence.

‘Lewis?’ a voice called out to him. It was her voice. She was already in his head. ‘Lewis? Are you alright?’ She called again.

Wait a second, he thought as he remembered the ball of energy striking something solid. She wasn’t in his head.

Scrambling as quickly as he could up the rubble, the stone tore at his skin again. This time he felt it, but he just didn’t care. Pulling himself to the top, he looked down at the giant guard board. To his right, a huge crater had been blasted into the pile of rubble. On the far side of the board was a pile of rubble where the Tower had been standing. A couple of spaces away was another pile where he had positioned the shield, and standing next to it, covered head to toe in dust, was Emily.

‘Are you alright?’ he called as he hurried down to the board, stopping beside the trough full of fire.

‘I’m okay,’ she said. ‘I thought it had got you.’

‘Not quite,’ he replied. He couldn’t help but start grinning. She was alive.

‘So, what’s our next move?’ she asked, turning back to face the last remaining enemy Warrior.

‘Move forward two spaces and take the Warrior,’ Lewis said as he looked at the two Shields that sat in front of the Castle. The Warrior was the last enemy piece on the board that could deal damage. When it fell, the game would be over.

Listening to his instruction, Emily crossed the two spaces between herself and the opposing Warrior, pausing for a second before she swung the huge stone sword at it with all her might. As if it were a knife passing through butter, the sword sliced through the Warrior, the two halves falling to the floor with a thud.

For a moment, there was a pause, and then, slowly, the two remaining Shields on the enemy side of the board parted, forming a guard of honour that led to the castle. At the very top of the castle, there was a glint of gold. The crown was theirs.

‘We did it! Emily shouted, although she remained well within her space. Beaming from ear to ear, Lewis raced around the end of the trough filled with fire and, darting between their last remaining pieces, swept her into a hug.

‘We did it,’ he said as he held on to her tightly. ‘We did it.’

‘Come on, you should go and get the crown,’ she said, pulling away from him slightly. ‘You definitely earned it.’