‘It’s happening,’ Anthony muttered quietly, pointing to the entrance of the tomb, where there was a sudden buzz of activity.

Pausing in his pacing, George looked up. Where the Hargrove boy had been slumped against the bronze pillar before, he was now standing in quiet conversation with the old man who was accompanying their group. Apparently, he was his father’s uncle, not that George had ever met him.

From their hiding spot just inside the forest, George, Anthony, and the half-dozen crew members from their ship watched in silence as the object that sat suspended above the pillar began to spin. As a flash of light projected thousands of tiny lights around the clearing, George realised what the object was. It was a star map, like the one that was locked away in one of the vaults below the castle in Tristan. He had always wondered why something so unimportant had been given so much security. Now he knew it was the key to one of the most important things in the entire kingdom.

‘What’s happening?’ Leo asked quietly. He sounded afraid, George thought.

George didn’t even bother to dignify his question with an answer. Instead, he settled for watching as the star map exploded when Hargrove touched the door. For a second, he hoped that the shards of glass would slice him to pieces, but he was too quick, pulling Emily aside with him.

‘Now?’ one of the men asked gruffly as he unsheathed a sword.

‘No,’ George said as he waved at him to wait. The door to the tomb still hadn’t opened for some reason. Whatever that reason might be, it didn’t seem as though any of the group standing in the clearing knew either.

‘Try placing your hand on the door again,’ the old man suggested, his voice just about carrying them to where they were hiding. For a moment, he was tempted to laugh at the simplicity of their thinking until he saw a line of light spreading down the centre of the door. Despite their distance from the entrance, he could smell the stale air that flooded out as the door opened.

In a bundle of confusion, the group in the clearing began panicking. The blonde girl had barely bundled a lamp into Hargrove’s arms when the door to the tomb slammed shut again. Hargrove and Emily disappeared behind it as they were shut inside the tomb.

‘Now?’ The man behind him suggested it again.

With a nod, Anthony stepped out from among the trees. It was a moment before the three of them who were left outside the tomb realised that they had company. ‘We need them alive!’ Anthony shouted as the crew bundled past him, swords raised as they bellowed into the silent night air.

Pulling his own sword out, George charged after them, heading straight for the boy who had almost discovered him earlier that day in the forest. Laughing, he watched as he tried to get up, a crutch under one arm and the other wielding a sword. This wouldn’t take too long.

Swinging his sword as soon as he was within reach of the boy named Arthur, he watched him be knocked off balance as he tried to parry George’s attack. While he managed to deflect George’s blow, he also lost his own sword in the process, making the crutch his only weapon as he stumbled back.

With a smile, George kicked him in the stomach, sending him sprawling to the floor. He had been right; it hadn’t taken long, he thought as he pinned Arthur to the ground and forced his hands behind his back.

‘How do you open the tomb?’ he demanded, pressing Arthur’s face into the ground.

‘I don’t know,’ he replied as he tried to look around for help.

On the other side of the bronze pillar, the old man was taking on four of the crew at once with what looked like a machete. Grabbing Arthur by the scruff of the neck, he hauled him to his feet, dragging him towards the pillar.

‘Drop the weapon or he loses his head!’ George said, lifting his sword so that the blade was pressed against Arthur’s neck. Freezing, the old man’s eyes found George’s. Reluctantly, he let the machete slip from his fingers. As it bounced on the floor, Leo swept in and picked it up. ‘Very good.’

‘Anthony, it’s been a long time. My how you’ve changed,’ he said pleasantly as one of the crew members forced his hands behind his back, binding them with a length of rope.

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‘Hello Thomas,’ Anthony said. ‘Up to your old tricks again, I see. I thought you would have learned from your first attempt to steal the crown. Clearly not.’

‘Perhaps I would have had it been me trying to steal the crown and not you,’ Thomas said. ‘Then again, I probably wouldn’t have botched it up in the first place.’

‘Open the tomb, Thomas,’ Anthony said as he grabbed Thomas, dragging him over to the bronze pillar.

‘I can’t,’ he said simply.

‘What do you mean you can’t? You just did!’ Anthony shouted.

‘I can’t,’ he repeated.

‘Grab the girl,’ Anthony ordered, pointing to where she stood at the side of the clearing, watching on. Clearly, none of the crew had deemed her a threat.

‘Amanda, run!’ Arthur shouted as Leo moved towards her, Thomas’ machete in one hand and his sword in the other. She didn’t need to be told twice. In a flash, she had turned, charging into the forest.

‘What now?’ Leo asked, turning to look at Anthony.

‘Chase her, you idiot!’ George shouted. When Leo didn’t react fast enough, George shoved Arthur to the floor and took off after the girl.

With only the tiniest amount of hazy moonlight filtering through the leafy canopy above him, George bundled his way through the trees, hoping that he was going in the right direction. He had no idea where she might be going. To tell the truth, he didn’t think she would know where she was going either. It was just the two of them, stumbling through the dark forest alone.

‘Amanda!’ he called as he slowed to a fast walk. ‘Come out; we don’t have time to play games. Amanda!’

Listening carefully, George wound his way between the huge trees, searching for any sign of her. At the sound of a branch cracking nearby, he swung around, sword at the ready. There was no one there.

‘Amanda, it’s alright. I won’t let them hurt you,’ he said reassuringly as he changed direction, heading for where he had heard the branch crack.

‘Like I’m going to believe that,’ she laughed from somewhere behind him. Spinning round, he found himself facing nothing but deserted forest again. ‘What’s the matter? Are you scared?’ she said from his right.

‘No,’ George said as firmly as he could. ‘You need to come out. As your future king, I order you to show yourself.’

For a moment, there was silence before her laughter filled the dark forest. ‘You’ll never be king,’ she whispered softly in his ear.

Turning on the spot, he was just in time to see a flash of her blonde hair and the tree branch that she was swinging at his head. With a crack, the branch snapped in two as it hit him in the face, sending him sprawling to the ground. Momentarily blinded by the pain, he groped around for his sword, finding the cold hilt amongst the undergrowth. Sitting up, he was just in time to see her blonde hair reflecting the faint moonlight as she ran deeper into the forest, her laughter echoing in his mind.

Cursing her, George clambered to his feet, leaning on his sword for support as his head swam for a moment. With the back of his sleeve, he whipped away what he was fairly sure was blood from his nose. She could rot in the forest for all he cared. He had more important things to deal with, he thought as he tried to remember which way he had come from.

Angrily hacking at the undergrowth with his sword, he stormed through the forest. Fortunately, it didn’t take him long to find the path of trampled vegetation that he had made while chasing her. From there, it only took him a few minutes to cover the ground between himself and the clearing.

‘Where is she?’ Anthony demanded it as soon as he saw George emerge from the forest without Amanda.

‘Gone,’ he said quietly, trying to staunch the blood flow from his nose.

‘You’re useless,’ he shouted. ‘It looks like you got beaten up by her as well!’

From where he was being held at sword point on his knees, Arthur sniggered. I’ll teach him to laugh at me, George thought. In half a dozen quick strides, he covered the ground between them, pulling his foot back and kicking him in the ribs with all the force he could manage. With a groan, Arthur slumped sideways.

‘Now, Thomas, how do I open the tomb?’ Anthony asked gently as he pulled Arthur upright, holding the machete to his neck.

‘You can’t,’ Thomas laughed dryly. ‘Not unless you can move clouds.’

Releasing Arthur, who dropped to the floor with a groan, Anthony stepped in front of Thomas. ‘What, like this?’ he asked as he raised his hands towards the sky, parting them slowly. As he did so, George watched the clouds that were obscuring the moon until the sky was clear. Slowly, he began to laugh as he lowered his hands again, sheathing his sword. ‘You still underestimate me. One day, you’ll learn from your mistakes. If you live long enough,

Tucking the machete into his belt for good measure, Anthony turned to the door of the tomb, watching as the line of light at the centre reappeared. With a creak, the door swung open for the second time that night.

‘It’s time to retrieve my crown, George. At last,’ Anthony said, beckoning for him to follow. Sheathing his sword, George hurried after him. ‘If anyone other than us comes out of this tomb, kill them. Those two as well,’ Anthony added without so much as a glance back at the crew. Leaving the crew to mutter their agreement, George followed his father into the tomb, grabbing one of Thomas’ lamps as he passed.

As it turned out, he need not have bothered. They must have only taken twenty or so steps inside the tomb when a light from somewhere down the steep stone steps filled the corridor. Somewhere in the distance, they heard the echo of hurried movement. Then there was a voice he recognised as Emily’s.

‘Come on, you should go and get the crown,’ her voice echoed back to him. ‘You definitely earned it.’

At the sound of those last four words, he felt his temper rising. Ignoring his father’s protests, he passed him on the stairs, heading straight for the sound of her voice. He didn’t know about the crown, but Hargrove had definitely earned something else.