‘I’ve got it!’ Lewis called, breathing heavily as he clung on to the crown with one hand. Getting hold of the crown had been a lot more difficult than he had expected. It had taken him several minutes to scramble up the Castle that the crown had been placed on top of.

Making sure that Emily wasn’t standing right underneath him, he let go of the castle, jumping back down to the floor. Turning over the crown in his hands, he examined the black stones that had been set into the gold. Beneath them, he noticed an inscription that had been etched into the metal. ‘Only in death will there be peace,’ he whispered as he traced his finger over the words. To his surprise, there wasn’t a single speck of dust on it. Before he could suggest that they get out of the tomb, the silence was broken by someone else.

Turning, Lewis saw a man striding across the Guard board towards them, clapping slowly. For a moment, he couldn’t quite place him, and then he remembered the courtroom in Tristan. It was Anthony. At his side was George, his face like thunder.

‘Well done. Well done indeed,’ Anthony said quietly.

‘It was your ship we saw then,’ Lewis said, trying to distract Anthony while he reached for his bow.

‘And it was your ship that George saw coming in from the ridge,’ Anthony replied, turning his attention to Emily. ‘I wouldn’t even think about it if I were you.’

Freezing, Lewis stopped trying to reach for his bow. How had he noticed his tiny movements when he was looking at Emily?

‘Where are the others?’ she demanded, stepping forward.

‘Alive,’ he said. ‘For now. Well, my dear uncle and the boy are The girl ran off into the forest. She did quite a number on my son, as you can see.’

‘What do you want from us?’ Lewis demanded.

‘I thought that much would have been obvious, even to you,’ Anthony laughed. ‘I’m here for my crown.’

‘It isn’t your crown,’ Emily said.

‘Who are you to tell me what is mine? Anthony shouted as he strode forward, grabbing Emily by the hair and dragging her away from Lewis. Producing what Lewis quickly recognised as Thomas’ machete, he held it to her throat. ‘I am Anthony Vandemark, the heir to the throne of Tristan!’

‘You aren’t the heir to the throne,’ Emily laughed. ‘You’ve wasted your time coming here.’

‘I would watch your tongue, young lady,’ Anthony whispered menacingly. ‘If not, I might cut it out and make you choke on it. After all, I believe you missed your execution.’

‘Hurt her, and you’ll rot in this tomb like the rest of the Vandemark family,’ Lewis said, seizing his opportunity while Anthony was distracted and drawing his bow.

‘And who in the name of the precursors do you think you are?’ Anthony demanded, teasing the tiniest drop of blood from Emily’s throat.

Keeping the arrow focused on Anthony, Lewis placed the crown on his head. ‘My name is Lewis Vandemark, the son of Dominic Vandemark and heir to the throne of Tristan.’

‘How...dramatic,’ Anthony muttered as George roared with laughter. ‘I don’t think you understand how this works, Lewis Vandemark. The second you even consider releasing that arrow, she dies.’

‘Lewis, don’t listen to him!’ Emily demanded.

‘Noble, really,’ Anthony said. ‘Willing to sacrifice yourself for something you know nothing about It really is all up to whether he wants to keep you alive, though. Although it looks like he’s barely managed to do that so far,

Tensing the arrow, Lewis tried to pick his spot on Anthony’s neck. If he could get it right, he would be able to sever his aorta before he got the chance to kill Emily.

Shaking his head slightly, Anthony looked up at him. ‘You really don’t get it. How about we make this simpler?’ he suggested.

With a wave of his free hand, the bow was ripped from Lewis’ hands by an invisible force. As if in slow motion, the arrow he had been preparing to fire dropped to the ground at his feet, bouncing on the stone floor. Looking around, he spotted his bow lying beside the fire-filled trough.

‘That’s better,’ Anthony said calmly. ‘Now, what you’re going to do is place the crown on the ground at your feet and kick it towards me.’

Slowly, Lewis reached up, removing the crown from his head, and read the inscription again as he examined it in the firelight. What else could he do? His bow was a long way out of reach, and Anthony was too far away to even consider the sword.

‘Lewis, don’t do it!’ Emily shouted as she tried unsuccessfully to break free of Anthony’s grasp.

Closing his eyes, Lewis tried to think of a way out of this. It was just like a board game all over again. The only problem this time was that he didn’t know all the rules, and the man opposite him had just used some sort of unknown power to disarm him. No, this time was different. This time, he wasn’t relying on luck to save Emily. Anthony was right; this time it was up to him alone.

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He opened his eyes, and he dropped the crown to the floor with a clatter. ‘You get the crown, and she lives,’ he said as he watched the crown settle. Taking a deep breath, he kicked the crown into the middle of the board, halfway between himself and Anthony.

‘Very good,’ Anthony said. ‘George, get the crown.’

Slowly, George strode forward, his eyes burning as he stared Lewis down. Even after he had picked up the crown, he didn’t turn his back on Lewis.

‘It’s been lovely to catch up with you both, but I’m afraid we must be going now,’ Anthony said, waving George towards the way out. Reluctantly, he began to back away. When Anthony decided that he had gone far enough, he pushed Emily to the floor and turned away.

‘Emily! Lewis shouted, running forward.

‘I’m fine,’ she replied, quickly scrambling to her feet.

Lewis felt the bad feeling rise from somewhere deep inside him before he realised why. Just as George reached the edge of the board, he turned and saw a pitch-black arrow flying out of the darkness.

It was pain beyond anything he had ever felt, Lewis thought as the arrow pierced his torso just a couple of inches below his heart. For a split second, he looked at it, and then, as if a dam had burst, blood poured out, soaking his shirt in an instant as he stumbled backwards. Screwing his eyes shut against the pain, he felt his knees give way as he collapsed to the floor, Emily’s scream ringing in his ears.

For perhaps five pain-filled seconds, he saw stars. ‘Lewis, look at me!’ Emily shouted as he felt her roll him on to his back.

Opening his eyes a little, he saw her leaning over him, all the colour drained from her face. ‘Get it out,’ he choked as the pain became even more intense.

‘Are you sure?’ she asked worriedly.

‘Do it!’ he begged. It felt as though his head was going to explode at any second. Through his eyelashes, he saw her take hold of the arrow shaft before she looked away. Bracing himself, he screwed his eyes shut as tightly as he could.

Perhaps it was because the pain was so intense or because his body couldn’t handle any more, but he barely felt it when Emily yanked the arrow out. If anything, it felt better.

‘Lewis?’ she asked tentatively.

‘I’m okay,’ he said with a grimace. ‘Except, well, you know.’

‘Let me,’ she muttered. As carefully as she could, she pushed up his blood-soaked shirt so that she could look at the wound. ‘It looks really painful.’

‘It was a lot worse when the arrow was still in there,’ he said as he tried to look at the damage that had been done.

‘Can you sit up?’

‘I think so,’ he muttered as he pushed himself up with his right arm, wincing as he did so.

‘Give me your shirt,’ she said when she was satisfied that he could sit. As it turned out, he didn’t have much choice in the matter. Without waiting for his agreement, she lifted his shirt over his head, rolling it so that it made a sort of bandage. ‘Hold it over the wound.’

Doing as he was told, Lewis held the shirt in place while she shuffled around behind him. As she pulled it as tight as she could, he felt her tie a knot in it, holding it in place over the wound. Fortunately, it seemed to do the trick, as the blood stopped pouring out.

‘We need to get you out of here,’ she said as she stood up, appearing in front of him again.

‘Get my bow,’ he said. Very slowly, he tried to get to his feet. When he just about made it to his knees, he freed Jonathan’s sword from its sheath, using it to help him up.

With his bow in hand, Emily appeared at his side, taking some of his weight as she helped him stand. ‘Are you okay?

‘I don’t feel so great,’ he muttered as he stumbled forward, Emily supporting him on one side and the sword propping him up on the other.

‘We’re getting out of here,’ Emily said as reassuringly as she could manage. ‘Just like you said.’

Trying to muster a weak smile by way of response, Lewis allowed her to help him across the board and through the plinths that supported the remains of his relatives. He found it infuriating that a walk that had taken them only two or three minutes earlier now took them nearly ten minutes. Perhaps it felt longer because they made it in silence this time. He didn’t know about Emily, but his thoughts were wandering to what they might find outside the tomb.

After so long in the tomb, the smell of fresh air was a welcome relief. Adjusting the grip on the hilt of the sword, Lewis used it to walk slightly faster. He could just about see the moonlight outside the door, which, thankfully, stood wide open.

‘Thomas!’ Emily shouted as they got closer to the door. ‘Help me!’

Outside the door, Lewis heard hurried shouts, and a figure appeared in the doorway moments later. It took him a second to realise that it was Thomas, alive, well, and apparently no longer being held hostage.

‘What happened?’ he demanded as he hurried forward. Taking the sword from Lewis’ hand, he threw it aside, helping Emily to support him instead.

As quickly as they could, they helped Lewis away from the tomb, lying him down carefully in the clearing close to the bronze pillar. Despite his head spinning from the quick movement, Lewis realised that something was different. Instead of just Thomas, Arthur, and Amanda, they were surrounded by a dozen other people, some of whom he recognised and the rest he didn’t.

‘What’s going on?’ he muttered as he looked around, spotting a body lying in a pool of blood nearby. He felt strange. Dazed. It was like everything around him had slowed down.

‘It’s alright,’ Thomas assured him quietly. ‘Anthony and George took us prisoner, but Amanda managed to find some of the crew of The Wings of Gold. The rest found us. They were the crew of the trade ship Tristan lost at the end of Harvest.’

‘Anthony...George...the crown,’ Lewis said as he tried to sit up.

Thomas carefully placed a hand on his chest, forcing him back down. ‘They got away, I’m afraid. When they saw that their crew was dead, they ran into the forest. Emily, what happened to him?’ he asked as he removed her makeshift bandage and examined the wound.

‘George hit him with an arrow just as he was leaving,’ she said, kneeling down on his other side.

‘What sort of arrow?’ Thomas asked worriedly as Lewis’ eyes wandered to the clouds drifting across the sky.

‘I don’t know, a black one?’ She spoke slowly. ‘I wasn’t really paying attention. He was in agony.’

‘I don’t know how he did it,’ Lewis mumbled to himself. Clouds looked strange, he decided.

‘You don’t know how he did what?’ Thomas asked.

‘How he hit me He didn’t even have a bow,’ he muttered. He felt tired all of a sudden. ‘I don’t feel so great.’

‘He didn’t have a bow?’ Thomas shouted as he jumped up. ‘Get my bag!’

‘What’s going on?’ Emily demanded as she watched Thomas throw everything out of his bag in search of something.

‘I knew about Anthony but not George. This is bad. Very bad,’ he said as he came back into Lewis’s view.

‘I’m tired,’ he yawned as he looked up at the sky.

‘Lewis, you can’t go to sleep right now! Do you understand me?’ Thomas said it hurriedly. All his words seemed to be getting mixed up as Lewis tried to listen to them. He had said something about sleep. Yes, he definitely mentioned sleep.

‘Lewis, look at me,’ Emily said as she turned his head so that he was looking at her. ‘No sleeping.’

‘But I’m tired,’ he muttered back. ‘I want to sleep, Em...’ he trailed off as he let his eyes close.

‘We need to get him to a town now!’ he heard Thomas shout. Suddenly, it seemed as though he was miles away. Sighing gently, he let the darkness consume him as their voices disappeared, replaced by nothing but silence.