At last, Lewis noticed that there was light at the end of the tunnel, literally and figuratively. It had been the best part of two entire seasons ago that he had been walking the other way down this tunnel, and here he was, returning to Tristan again, the end of his journey and the end of the pipe in sight.

It had been an enormous relief to him when they arrived at the pump house outside the city walls to find it deserted. Edmund had done the first part of his job, even if they had had to climb over the gate to get in. Since then, everything has gone according to plan. But then, Lewis had expected it to What he was more concerned about was who he would find at the end of the tunnel, which was only fifty feet or so away and rapidly closing in.

‘Quiet down everyone,’ he said, turning to Emily, who was directly behind him. Turning his attention forward again, he heard her pass the message on. Slowly, the chatter faded away until it was only the sound of their footsteps.

This was it, he thought as he extinguished the lamp he had been carrying. As he set it down on the small ledge just inside the grate, he felt something underneath it move. Lifting the lamp again, he felt around for it. It was a key, he found as he picked it up, holding it to the light. Edmund had thought of something he hadn’t, Lewis realised. Silently thanking Edmund, Lewis paused as a pair of legs appeared at the entrance to the service tunnel.

As soon as they had passed, he moved over to the grate, turning the key quietly in the lock. ‘Wait here,’ he muttered to no one in particular as he eased the grate open.

Very slowly, he shuffled forward, more aware now than ever that he had nowhere to run if anyone other than David and Louise were waiting outside the pipe. Leaning forward, he poked his head out of the pipe for a second, checking one way and then the other. There was no one in sight.

Wondering what had happened to the plan he had told Edmund about, he moved forward. Just as he was about to step out, he saw movement. On the far side of the tree and bushes that sat between the service tunnel and the narrow gap between the two buildings opposite, someone appeared. For a split second, he was about to retreat back into the pipe when he recognised the long mane of blonde hair.

‘Louise,’ he hissed when she got close to the end of the pipe. Two people always patrolled this area, and so far, he hadn’t seen anyone else. There was always a chance that Edmund had only managed to get one of them positioned here.

‘What the...? she muttered, pausing at the sound of her name.

‘Louise, down here,’ he whispered.

As he saw her take a couple of steps towards the pipe, there was a pause, and her face appeared a moment later. In the space of a couple of seconds, the look on her face flicked through surprise, fear, and relief before finally settling on confusion. ‘Lewis?’

‘Are you alone?’ he whispered quickly.

‘No, David’s here,’ she said slowly. ‘What are you doing here?’

Before Lewis could reply, he heard David’s voice. ‘Louise? You alright?’

‘It’s Lewis,’ she said, her face disappearing as she stood up straight.

‘What?’ he replied, the shock evident as a second pair of legs moved in front of the pipe, his face appearing a moment later. ‘What the bloody hell are you doing in there?’

‘Sneaking into the city,’ Lewis said. ‘Is it clear to come out?’

‘Yeah,’ David said as he backed away to let Lewis out. ‘Everyone apart from us is either stationed at the city gates or around the castle.’

‘Come on, it’s safe,’ Lewis called over his shoulder as he crouched his way out of the pipe. Moving aside, he watched as, one by one, the rest of the group emerged from the pipe, led by Emily and with Thomas bringing up the rear.

‘What in the name of the precursors?’ David muttered to himself as he watched twenty-three people emerge from the pipe behind Lewis.

‘Can I second that?’ Louise asked, turning to Lewis.

‘Edmund closed the pump houses and positioned you two here so that we could sneak into the city,’ Lewis explained.

‘That was him?’ Louise said, her brow furrowing. ‘The orders were just passed down by Commander Redmond, although he seemed pretty confused. Angry as well, but that’s to be expected.’

‘Edmund was supposed to sort out some guard uniforms for us. Did he give you anything?’ Lewis asked.

‘No. There are a couple of wooden crates over there; I have no idea what’s in them, though,’ David said with a nod to them, still shaking his head in disbelief at what he had seen.

Squeezing between the two of them, Lewis strode over to the crates, opening the lid just enough to look inside. ‘It’s them,’ he said, taking off the lid and pulling one of the jackets out. Lifting the crate down, he opened the one beneath it. Both of them had been packed with guard uniforms. ‘Everyone grabs one and puts it on, apart from Emily, Amanda, and Arthur.’

‘Not that I’m unhappy to see you, Lewis, but what is going on?’ Louise said as the group bundled over to the crates and began pulling out the uniforms and throwing the clothes they were wearing into the crates.

‘Anthony isn’t the heir to the throne,’ he explained. ‘If we don’t stop the coronation, then he will invoke something called The Prophecy of Days.’

‘What’s that?’ she asked.

‘Something very, very bad,’ Thomas supplied as he appeared beside Lewis, pulling on his guard jacket.

‘You do realise you’re wanted for high treason, don’t you?’ Louise said worriedly. ‘She is as well; I’ve seen her face on all the posters.’

‘Don’t worry about us; we’ve got it all worked out,’ Lewis said.

‘You might blend in, but what about her?’ Louise said with a nod to Emily. ‘I love your hair, and no offence, but you’re going to stick out like a sore thumb in a crowd. They’ve had your face on wanted posters since King Vandemark was murdered; someone will recognise you before you even get to the end of the street.’

‘Oh, it’ll be okay; I’ll be invisible,’ Emily said with a smile.

Bewildered, Louise just nodded before turning back to Lewis. ‘This is so bizarre. All of a sudden you just disappeared, and then Commander Redmond dragged David, Arron, and me in for questioning about your whereabouts.’

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

‘The last time I saw Arron was when he showed up with Commander Redmond and a broken nose at my uncle’s house in The Green Valley,’ Lewis said bitterly.

‘That’s funny; the last time I spoke to him, I accused him of selling you out to Commander Redmond and punched him in the face,’ she said with a grin.

‘It was you who broke his nose?’ he asked in shock.

‘She has a mean right hook,’ David laughed.

‘I’ve missed you two so much,’ Lewis said, clapping David on the shoulder and pulling Louise into a quick hug. ‘I’m sorry Commander Redmond dragged you into this. Everything happened so fast.’

‘Don’t worry, it was nothing we couldn’t handle,’ David replied. ‘How are you planning on stopping this coronation then? There are guards everywhere.’

‘I was counting on it,’ Lewis said. ‘We’re going to put a few of our own guards in as close to the ceremony as we can. Will you two take a couple of the groups to the castle so they can get near enough to help?’

For a moment, David and Louise glanced at each other thoughtfully before they started laughing. ‘Sure, why not?’ David said. ‘It was getting boring being stuck out here on our own.’

‘I owe you one,’ Lewis said before turning to the group that had assembled behind him. The nineteen sailors and Thomas looked quite imposing all dressed up in their black guard uniforms. ‘We’re going to split up now. Make sure you stay with your group. If you haven’t got a group yet, then split yourselves between David and Louise; they’ll help you get to the castle.’ Pulling his pocket watch out, Lewis consulted it quickly. ‘There’s just under an hour until the coronation; get as close as you can, but don’t take any risks that could expose you or someone else.’

‘What about you?’ Leo asked. ‘Are you in one of the groups?’

‘I need to get something, but I’ll see you there,’ Lewis said as he tried to quiet down their murmured disapproval. ‘Stay safe, but be ready. I’ll see you all at the castle.’

With one final nod to them, he watched as they separated into their groups, the leaders setting off on their separate routes to the castle. During the horse ride to the pump house, they had discussed what would happen inside the city at length, deciding it was best to send each group a different route in case one of them got caught.

‘Be careful,’ Lewis said quietly as he caught up with Emily’s group.

‘I will as long as you will,’ Emily replied.

‘I promise,’ he smiled. ‘Good luck to everyone,’ he added with a nod before he ducked into a narrow alleyway that led towards the market. He didn’t have much time; he only hoped that nothing had changed since he had left Tristan.

Keeping one eye on his pocket watch, Lewis moved quickly through the maze of dark alleyways. On the one occasion that he had to cross a major street, he saw that it was flooded with guards heading in the direction of the castle. From the back, he recognised one of them as Thomas. A few paces behind him were the rest of his group. So far, it looked as though everything was going according to plan for them.

Ducking back into the shadows, he waited for a pair of guards he didn’t recognise to pass before stepping out into the street. He was only a couple of streets from the market now, almost where he needed to be. With his head down in an attempt to make himself harder to recognise, he crossed the street, stopping outside one of the small terraced houses. Knocking quickly on the battered blue door, he waited.

After a minute or so, during which he began to wonder if he had the right house, the door opened to reveal a girl about his age with black hair.

Lew, she gasped as he put his hand over her mouth, silencing her.

‘Can I come in?’ he whispered hurriedly, glancing over his shoulder to make sure no one had heard her. With a nod, she stepped back, allowing him to step into the house, his hand still over her mouth. Pushing the door shut behind him quickly, he turned to her. Before he could say anything, he felt her tongue lick his hand. Pulling it away, he wiped it on his trousers. ‘Really?’

Not waiting for her to answer, he pulled her into a tight hug, relieved that she was okay. ‘What are you doing here?’ she muttered into his ear as she hugged him back.

‘I had to know that you were okay, Robyn,’ he said as he pulled away, holding her at arm’s length as he examined her. Other than being a little bonier than he remembered, she seemed to be fine.

‘What happened to you?’ she demanded. ‘One minute you were helping me put out the fire at the bakery, and then you had gone with an astronomical price on your head for high treason.’

‘I can’t explain it all now. It’s complicated, and I don’t have much time,’ he replied. ‘Did anyone give you a hard time while I was gone?’

‘No, the only person I’ve seen is Arron, and that was at the end of Frost,’ she said, dragging him into the next room. Sitting in front of the fire was her mother, wrapped up in a thick golden blanket. ‘Mum, look who’s here.’

‘Lewis?’ she croaked. ‘It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you!’

‘I’ve been away,’ he said carefully. The fact that she had always been very frail meant that she hardly left the house, but he didn’t know how much she knew about what had happened. ‘How are you, Mrs. Steele?’

‘Hanging in there,’ she said quietly. ‘Just about.’

‘How’s Conner?’ Lewis asked, turning to Robyn.

‘I’m alright, thanks to you,’ a voice said from the doorway. Turning, Lewis saw Robyn’s younger brother sitting in his wheelchair, his long black hair flopping over his eyes. Ever since Lewis had known him, he had been confined to a wheelchair to get around.

‘I don’t know what we would have done without the money you loaned me,’ Robyn said. ‘After the bakery burned down, I never would have been able to afford the medicine for him.’

Reaching into his pocket, Lewis produced a small bag of coins. It was all that remained of the money that Edmund had left him when he escaped the castle. ‘Take this.’

Robyn took the bag in her hands and weighed it. ‘I can’t; there must be at least fifty golds in here.’

‘Take it, please,’ he insisted as he pushed it back at her. ‘I know how much the medicine costs, and you still need to feed yourselves.’

‘But there’s so much here,’ she complained. ‘What about you?’

‘One way or another, I won’t need it by the end of the day.’

‘What do you mean? What’s going on?’ she demanded.

‘I haven’t got time to explain,’ he said. ‘I need you to do something for me, though. There is a girl at the castle called Emily. She has red hair; you won’t be able to miss her. If the worst happens, I need you to help her get out of the city. Take her to the service tunnel by the pump house; she knows the way from there.’

‘The girl from the wanted posters?’ Robyn whispered, pulling him out of the room and away from her mother and brother.

‘She’s innocent,’ Lewis said. ‘Anthony Vandemark framed her for King Vandemark’s murder so that he could become king.’

‘Why can’t you get her out of the city? You managed it,’ Robyn protested.

‘I did, and then I brought her back today,’ he said. ‘We’re here to stop Anthony’s coronation. If it goes wrong, then I need to know that she will be safe.’

‘Alright,’ she muttered as she considered the bag of gold in her hand. ‘I can’t take all of this, though.’

‘Take it, please,’ he insisted as he consulted the pocket watch again. He only had twenty minutes left. ‘There’s more to all of this than I have time to explain, but if I don’t stop Anthony, then I have to save everyone else.’

‘I don’t understand,’ she said.

‘I can’t explain it now. Do you know if Arron still lives in the same place?’ he asked.

‘No, he moved at the end of Frost. You left a load of stuff behind, and he didn’t know what to do with it, so he dumped it here,’ she said. I had to sell a couple of things to buy Conner’s medicine.’

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Lewis said quickly. ‘I used to have a light brown travelling cloak that got left in the sun and now looks more golden. Do you have it?’

‘Yes,’ she said, turning back to the room where her mother was sitting by the fire. ‘I almost sold it, but it was so cold she needed it to stay warm.’

‘Is it alright if I take it?’ Lewis asked, half speaking to Robyn and half to Mrs. Steele.

‘Take it, my boy,’ Mrs. Steele croaked quietly. ‘My son is only alive now thanks to the money you gave Robyn for the medicine. I’m forever in your debt.’

‘Thank you,’ Lewis said as Robyn removed the cloak from her mother’s lap, handing it to him. ‘I have to go; I’ll explain everything when I get the chance,’ he called as he ran for the door, leaving behind a bewildered Robyn.

Slamming the door shut behind him, Lewis threw the cloak around his shoulders as he ran in the direction of the castle. There had been a time for sneaking about slowly, but that time has passed now. Now he just had to make it to the castle, or it would all be too late. If Anthony was crowned, then the last four days of fighting headaches and bouts of lightheadedness would have been for nothing.

Taking a short alleyway, he emerged onto the main street that led towards the castle. It was packed with people—guards and civilians alike. There was no way he would ever make it through the crowd to the castle in time. Looking around in desperation, he saw a tall log pile beside a low, flat-roofed house. Changing direction, Lewis ploughed his way through the crowd, ignoring the startled shouts as he headed for the rooftops.