Yawning, Lewis shut the door far more forcefully than he had meant to. Running one hand through his hair, he took off the bow and quiver with the other, standing them up in the corner beside the small table that sat beneath the dirty window. Taking off his jacket, he chucked it over the back of one of the chairs.
Tired, he headed for his room. With a bit of luck, Emily would still be asleep, and he might be able to get a couple of hours of sleep in on the floor before she woke up. As soon as he opened the door, he saw those hopes vanish. Emily was sitting up on the bed, wide awake, as she glanced around the room.
‘Oh, it was only you coming back,’ she whispered when she saw him open the door.
Noticing the soaked shirt clinging to her skin, he slipped inside the room, closing the door behind him. ‘Are you alright?’ he asked, picking up the glass from the bedside table.
‘I’m fine,’ she replied. ‘Just a nightmare.’
‘It’s hardly surprising after the night you’ve had,’ Lewis said as he opened the door again. Emptying the glass into the small sink, he refilled it with water. ‘Would you like to talk about it?’ he asked, offering her the glass.
Silently, she shook her head as she took the glass, drinking deeply from it. ‘How was your patrol? Can you take me to the bakery now?’
Sighing, Lewis looked out of the window. ‘There is no bakery anymore. It was burned down tonight.’
‘What happened?’
‘After I left you here, I went to catch up with Arron. I had only just made it to where I met you, and I found my grandmother, Maria, coming towards me. She was outside collecting logs for the fires in the bakery when the place was set alight,’ Lewis explained.
For several minutes, Lewis stood staring out of the window in silence.
‘Do you know where I can find Charles Hargrove if he isn’t at the bakery?’ Emily asked. ‘I need to deliver a letter to him for King Vandemark.’
No,’ Lewis replied softly. ‘Maria saw a group of men dragging him out of the bakery before they set fire to it. They were taking him towards the castle.’
‘But we have to find him! Sebastian said he would know what to do,’ Emily insisted.
‘Don’t you think I would go after him if I knew where he was? He’s my grandfather after all!’ Lewis said bitterly as he turned around to face her.
For several seconds, they stared at each other in silence until Emily’s face softened. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t know.’
Before either of them could say anything else, there was a bang from downstairs, followed by distinctively heavy footsteps. At the sound of Arron’s voice outside, Lewis turned to Emily, grabbing her dress.
‘Quick, you need to hide!’ he whispered urgently as he shoved her dress under the covers.
‘Where?’
‘Under the bed,’ Lewis replied, grabbing the letter and vial off the bedside table and hiding them as well. ‘Don’t make a sound until I tell you it’s safe to come out.’
Scrambling out of bed, Emily lay down on the floor, shuffling sideways awkwardly until she was out of sight. As soon as he was sure she was well hidden, Lewis darted around the other side of the bed towards the cupboard. Pulling one of the doors open, he began pulling out clothes. Hopefully, it would look like he was just getting ready to go to bed.
Without warning, the bedroom door opened, with Arron appearing in the doorway, shadowed ominously by Commander Redmond. Glancing at Arron, Lewis saw his eyes flick in the direction of the bed.
‘Commander Redmond, I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting anyone; I was just getting ready for bed,’ Lewis lied slowly.
‘That’s surprisin’ considerin’ a guard just found four dead bodies in a small alleyway,’ Commander Redmond said. ‘They weren’t very far from your patrol route either.’
‘That’s terrible,’ Lewis replied. ‘Like you said, it wasn’t on my patrol route, though, so I don’t know how I can help you.’
‘When you arrived at the bakery, you were not with your patrol partner. Is that not suspicious enough?’ Commander Redmond demanded.
‘I was comforting my grandmother. I’m sure she could testify to that if you needed her to.’
‘Of course she could. That doesn’t explain why you were seen leavin’ a dark alleyway with the leading suspect in King Vandemark’s murder, though, does it?’
‘What are you implying, Sir?’ Lewis asked nervously.
‘You helped that girl escape. I need you to tell me where she is right now, and I might be able to overlook your lack of ability to follow protocol,’ he insisted.
‘Alright,’ Lewis sighed. ‘I found her wandering the streets and offered to let her stay for the night. I swear, I didn’t know. She must have left while I was on patrol, though.’
‘Are you certain she isn’t hidin’ around here somewhere? I shouldn’t need to tell you the consequences of what has happened tonight,’ Commander Redmond pressed. ‘She is wanted for the murder of King Vandemark as well as the theft of a very valuable amulet that disappeared around the same time as her. If you helped her escape, you will have to stand trial for not followin’ protocol.’
‘I told you everything I know, Sir. I didn’t know she was involved in anything like this, and she must have left while I was on patrol,’ Lewis repeated.
‘Then I will issue you with this,’ Commander Redmond said as he handed Lewis an envelope. ‘Let me also remind you that if you are found guilty, you will likely find yourself sentenced to death for high treason. Until your trial, you are to stand down from your patrols and not leave the city. If you remember anythin’ that might help find her or if you see her, report it immediately. Is that clear?’
‘Yes, Sir,’ Lewis said as convincingly as he could.
‘Good!’ Commander Redmond replied. ‘Somerville, I expect you to keep an eye on Hargrove as well.’
‘Yes, Sir,’ Arron muttered quietly.
Without another word, Commander Redmond stomped out of the room, the front door closing with a deafening bang behind him. Lewis was sure that he would find several new cracks in the wood if he were to go and look closely.
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When he heard the door downstairs slam shut as well, Lewis turned towards the bed. ‘Okay, you can come out; it’s safe now.’
‘You lied to The Commander?’ Arron asked, his jaw dropping as he watched Emily shuffle out from under the bed.
‘You really need to clean more often,’ she said. Looking at Lewis, she sneezed as she brushed the dust off herself.
‘You lied to The Commander!’ Arron repeated it in disbelief.
‘What else was I supposed to do? Either way, I’m going to end up on trial. At least I might be able to find out what happened to my grandfather now,’ Lewis explained as he walked out of the bedroom and into the small kitchen. ‘Are you hungry?’ he asked Emily when she followed him.
Silently, she nodded as he began to rummage through one of the cupboards. ‘Help yourself. I’m sorry we don’t have much; we can get something better later.’
‘It’s fine,’ she replied as she picked up a green apple from the small bowl on the table, biting into it with a crunch.
‘What are you going to do, though?’ Arron asked. ‘If Commander Redmond or anyone sees you with her, then you won’t even get a trial.’
‘I guess we’ll just have to be careful then,’ Lewis said.
‘What do you mean by ‘we’?’ Emily asked, sitting down at the small table.
‘You don’t know the city at all. You would get caught before you got more than a couple of streets from here,’ Lewis reminded her. ‘I might not be able to take you to Charles, but I can take you to my uncle, Samuel; he might know what King Vandemark wanted him to do.’
‘But why are you doing this?’ Emily demanded. ‘They could have you executed for what you’ve already done. If you let me go on my own, your commander might be able to get you out of a death sentence!’
Glancing at Arron, they both burst out laughing, with Lewis shaking his head at her idea. ‘Commander Redmond would never get anyone out of the death sentence, let alone me after what’s happened.’
‘Then why did he offer to if you told him where I had gone?’
‘He thought that Lewis might be protecting you, so he tried to scare the information out of him. I’ve seen him do it to dozens of criminals before,’ Arron explained.
‘Why would you protect me, though? For all you know, I could be guilty,’ Emily asked.
‘The fact that Charles was abducted by a group of men on the same night that King Vandemark sent you to find him can’t be a coincidence,’ Lewis said slowly. ‘Whatever happened, someone knew that he had the answers to something. You need to find him to deliver the letter, and I promised my grandmother I would find him. It makes sense if we work together.’
‘I guess,’ Emily sighed. ‘But how do we do that?’
‘I don’t know. My grandmother said they were dragging him in the direction of the castle, but neither of us stand a chance of getting anywhere near there without getting caught right now,’ Lewis admitted, looking at Arron as he sat down with a bowl of sliced fruit.
‘No way!’ Arron said quickly when he caught Lewis’ eye. ‘I’m not getting involved in this anymore. The Commander has already threatened me with a trial as well.’
‘But he didn’t actually give you one,’ Lewis pointed out. ‘You don’t have to do anything dangerous; just keep your eyes and ears open to anything that could tell us where he is.’
‘What are you going to do, though?’ Arron asked sceptically.
‘I’m going to take Emily to see my uncle in The Green Valley. He might have an idea what Charles knew about King Vandemark,’ Lewis explained.
‘How are you going to get out of the city, though? Commander Redmond said you couldn’t leave,’ Arron asked.
‘I don’t know yet,’ Lewis replied. ‘I’ll figure it out when we get closer to the wall.’
‘Do you have any idea how crazy this sounds?’ Arron demanded as he watched Lewis push the bowl away from him. ‘You’re running away with someone who’s being accused of high treason!’
‘I didn’t have anything to do with it!’ Emily said adamantly, tossing the apple core into Lewis’ empty bowl.
‘Oh, Great Precursors, you actually believe her, don’t you?'
‘I do,’ Lewis said. ‘It doesn’t matter what I believe, though. I just need you to keep an eye out for Charles while I’m gone.’
‘I told you I don’t want any part in this!’ Arron said angrily.
‘Well, if you won’t try to help me find Charles, at least look out for Robyn while I’m gone. I wouldn’t be surprised if Commander Redmond tried to question her because she worked at the bakery,’ Lewis replied levelly.
Leaving a silent Arron to contemplate his job, Lewis headed back towards the bedroom. Pulling a bag out of the bottom of the cupboard, he tucked Emily’s dress in the bottom along with the letter and the vial. Pulling some of his clothes out of the cupboard, he stuffed them inside as well.
Behind him, he heard the floorboards creak, and when he looked up, he found Emily standing in the doorway. ‘Do you need any help?’ she asked when she saw what he was doing.
Pulling out some of his old training clothes, Lewis chucked them on the bed. ‘Put these on; if we want to get out of the city, you can’t wear your blue dress; it would attract too much attention.’
Turning back to the cupboard, he pulled out a thick brown coat. For a moment, he examined it before he chucked it on the bed with the other clothes. ‘I’m not looking,’ Lewis said when he noticed that Emily hadn’t moved. ‘You need to change quickly so we can go before we get any more visitors.’
Making a point not to look behind him, Lewis buried his head in the cupboard, clearing the piles of clothes on the bottom shelf to one side. When it was clear, he ran his hand over the dark surface, searching for the small nail that, when pulled, opened a small compartment.
With the sound of Emily shuffling about behind him while she changed, Lewis pulled open the small compartment. Reaching inside, he felt around for the handle of the box inside. Pulling it out, he sat back, resting the metal box on the shelf in front of him. Tipping it backwards slightly, he looked at the small combination lock. Carefully, he changed the six dials so that the number read 493218. The date of his father’s death was the 49th day of Harvest, which was the third season, 218 years after Tristan’s kingdom had been founded by King Arden Vandemark.
With a soft click, the lid opened. Pushing the lid back, he rummaged through it in the semi-darkness, pulling out a heavy leather pouch that chinked softly as the coins inside it moved. Burying the leather pouch in the bag beside Emily’s dress, he pulled out the handful of papers and a pair of lockpicks that were in the bottom, tucking them into his pocket before shutting the box again.
Having scrambled the code again, he returned it to its secret compartment and began putting the clothes that had covered the nail back on.
‘You can look again now,’ Emily said quietly from behind him. Turning around, Lewis stood up, shutting the cupboard behind him. Standing on the other side of the bed was Emily, dressed in all black, her brown coat still lying untouched on the bed. ‘Can I borrow this?’ she asked, holding up a small piece of string that had been left over from when Lewis had been repairing the grip on his bow the week before.
‘Sure,’ Lewis replied, watching as she used it to tie her hair back. ‘I just need to get some stuff from the kitchen before we go.’
Taking the coat from the bed, Lewis tucked it through the strap on his bag as Emily followed him back to the kitchen, her hands still fiddling with the small bit of string as she tried to secure her hair while she walked.
In the kitchen, Lewis found Arron sitting at the table, eating in silence. Putting the bag on the table, Lewis picked up his own coat, slipping it on as he headed for the cupboards. Grabbing a half-eaten loaf of bread and several slices of meat, he wrapped them up, chucking a couple of apples in his bag for good measure. Picking up an almost empty box of matches, he slipped them into his pocket as well.
‘You really are leaving then?’ Arron asked, breaking the silence.
‘I can’t sit around here until they decide it’s a reasonable time to give me a trial; I don’t stand a chance of winning,’ Lewis replied, handing Emily the brown coat when she had finished with her hair.
‘What do I do if they come looking for you?’ Arron asked as he watched Emily put on the coat, buttoning it up carefully.
‘Tell them I must have gone while you were sleeping or on patrol,’ Lewis suggested. ‘They won’t expect me to be outside the city, so that should keep them occupied long enough for me to get to my mother’s old house in the forest at least.’
‘What about Robyn? What do I tell her?’
‘Give this to her,’ Lewis said as he pulled out a couple of gold coins and half a dozen silver ones from the leather pouch in his bag. ‘Tell her to be careful and to use this if she needs help looking after her brother.’
Arron took the coins that Lewis had given him and looked up. ‘I guess this is goodbye then.’
‘I guess so, for now at least,’ Lewis agreed. ‘Keep yourself and Robyn safe.’
‘I will. Arron nodded as Lewis picked up his bow and quiver, slipping them on to his shoulder over the top of his bag so that he would be able to get at them if he needed them all of a sudden.
‘Bye, Arron,’ Emily said quietly when she saw that Lewis was ready. ‘Thank you for helping rescue me last night. Neither of us would be here without you.’
Ignoring her, Arron looked at Lewis as he opened the door and ushered Emily out. ‘I hope you know what you’re doing.’
‘So do I,’ Lewis replied quietly.