The hours in jail seemed to take an eternity to pass. Since Edmund left, there has been nothing but silence. As Lewis sat on the uncomfortable bed with his back against the cold stone wall, he imagined that Emily was doing the same on the other side of the wall.

How could he have been so stupid? His naiveté had gotten them caught. He had even told Emily that Commander Redmond would get his file and find out every little detail about him to figure out where he might go. Yet she had still trusted him.

Shuffling forward, he stood up, wandering over to the door of his cell. Surely they would be coming to collect her for her trial before long. Perhaps if he waited here, he might be able to see her before she left and tell her he was sorry for getting them caught.

Despite everything that had happened since he had met her in the dark alleyway, he remembered the look of wonder on her face as they had walked through the forest to the cabin. It was then that he realised he wouldn’t have changed anything he had done the night they met. Leaning against the bars of his cell, he tried to see into hers. He had tried it dozens of times already, but something told him he had to try again.

With his face pressed against the bars, he looked out into the corridor just in time to see the door at the end swing open. Hardly a second later, George’s pompous voice filled the air. Trying to ignore the voices, he looked towards Emily’s cell. He could just see her hands resting on one of the crossbars of the door.

Moving closer to the wall between them, he slipped his arm through the bars, twisting his shoulder awkwardly as he tried to reach out to her. As his fingers left the stone, they found her cold hand. He could only tell the difference between the two because of the surprised twitch her hand gave at the contact.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said quietly, giving her hand a gentle squeeze when she took his.

‘Isn’t this adorable? George sneered before Emily could reply. ‘I think I might be sick.’

‘Shut up,’ he heard Emily mutter half-heartedly.

‘It’s time for your execution,’ George said briskly, gesturing for one of the two guards that accompanied him to open the cell door.

‘Edmund said she was to get two minutes with Hargrove before she went for her trial,’ the guard replied as he unlocked Emily’s cell.

‘Well, make it quick,’ George said bitterly. ‘It’s almost midnight, and I don’t want to fall asleep at the execution.’

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Without a word, the guard pushed the cell door open with a creak. A moment later, Emily appeared in the corridor, her wrists held tightly by the guard. Silently, he guided her over to the door of Lewis cell, opening it with another key from the huge iron ring. Opening the door, he ushered her inside, locking the door behind her. ‘Two minutes,’ he said quietly before turning his back and taking a few paces down the corridor, the other guard following suit.

‘Give them some privacy,’ the other guard called when it became apparent that George was planning on watching their final exchanges. Silently, Lewis thanked the guard when George finally turned away with one last sour look.

‘It’s okay,’ she said quietly with a weak smile, picking up the conversation they had tried to have before the guards arrived.

‘I’m sorry, it’s all my fault. I knew Commander Redmond would go through my file and find out I had family in The Green Valley. I didn’t know what else to do,’ he said quickly.

‘It’s not your fault,’ she said defensively.

‘I can’t believe you won’t even get a fair trial,’ Lewis said angrily, trying to ignore the sense that their time was running out.

Leaning forward, Emily rested her head on his shoulder. ‘It’s alright; I’m lucky to get a trial at all. Even if it is a fake one,’ she muttered over his shoulder. Instinctively, he found his arms wrapping themselves around her, pulling her into a tight hug, the cold amulet pressing against his chest. ‘I’m sorry that I dragged you into all of this.’

‘It’s alright; life was getting a bit boring as it was,’ Lewis said with a smile.

Laughing, she pulled away from him slightly, looking up at him intently. ‘Thank you.’

‘For what?’

‘Making me feel better,’ she said with a smile as the sound of footsteps filled the corridor again. He was fairly sure that it was the first time he had seen her smile properly since they had been shooting arrows in Fir Forest. ‘Thank you for being a real friend as well. I just wish it hadn’t ended so soon.’

‘Me too,’ he replied with a weak smile. ‘If I had done something differently, then maybe we wouldn’t be having this conversation.’

‘Don’t blame yourself. I don’t,’ she whispered. Leaning up, she kissed him on the cheek gently. ‘Life’s too short to always try and find someone to blame; we just have to live with the choices we made as best we can.’

‘Where did you get that idea from?’ Lewis asked as the guards appeared on the other side of the bars.

‘Sebastian,’ she said simply as one of the guards placed a hand on her shoulder gently.

‘It’s time to go, I’m afraid,’ he said quietly.

With one last hug, she stepped back. ‘Okay,’ she replied, taking a deep breath as she turned to face the guard.

In silence, she walked out of the cell, refusing to put up a fight when George grabbed her wrists, pulling her arms behind her back roughly before he bound them tightly.

‘I’ve been looking forward to this ever since they found you,’ he said loudly.

‘George,’ Lewis called as he started to lead her away.

‘What?’ he demanded, pausing for a moment.

‘Go to hell.’

Laughing, George pushed Emily ahead of him. ‘Don’t wait too long for me. Then again, you’ll have this commoner to amuse yourself with, I suppose,’ he called over his shoulder.

‘Great Precursors, I can’t stand that kid,’ one of the guards muttered as soon as George was out of earshot.

‘They’re definitely executing the wrong one there,’ the other replied. ‘You didn’t hear that,’ he added, glancing at Lewis as he locked the cell door again before they hurried after George and Emily.