‘What are we going to do?’ Emily asked as Lewis slid down the wall to sit on the floor beside her. They had spent the best part of what must have been an hour searching through the crowds for Thomas. Arthur and Amanda had been nowhere to be seen either.

‘They must be around here somewhere,’ Lewis sighed, running a hand through his hair tiredly. Why couldn’t anything be straight-forward for once?

‘I meant if Thomas still won’t help us. Assuming we find him, obviously,’ Emily said.

‘I don’t know, to be honest,’ Lewis replied, his eyes still scanning the crowds for any signs of Thomas. ‘It’s not as if we can go back to Tristan and ask Edmund what to do next.’

‘I miss Tristan,’ Emily sighed, resting her chin on her knees.

It had been so long since they had left that Lewis couldn’t help but wonder what it was like now. What are Louise and David doing now? What about Robyn? ‘Me too.’

‘Will it always be like this?’ Emily asked. ‘People are trying to hunt us down.’

Lewis barely registered her question as he watched a gap appear among the crowd. It took him a moment to realise that it was Thomas and Arthur who were standing across the room from them. ‘There,’ he said as he jumped to his feet. Behind him, Emily shouted something, but he was already cutting his way through the crowd in the direction of Thomas. Just as he reached the pair, they looked up.

‘Not you again,’ Thomas said bitterly. Beside him, Arthur offered Lewis an apologetic smile as Emily caught up with him.

‘Thomas, we were looking for you,’ Lewis said.

‘You won’t give up, will you?’ he sighed.

‘If there was someone else who could help us, we would go and find them,’ Lewis said. ‘Believe me, neither of us wants to be here. We would much rather go back to our old lives in Tristan, but that isn’t an option anymore.’

‘The mercenaries were looking for you; do you know that?’ Thomas said.

‘I’m sorry; I don’t know how they found us,’ Lewis said. ‘No one has come looking for us since we escaped from the castle at the end of Frost.’

‘Here’s a piece of free advice. They never stop coming,’ Thomas said as he turned away. ‘Come on, Arthur.’

‘Is that it?’ Lewis demanded, taking a step after Thomas.

‘Yes. I lost my whole life because of what happened in Tristan twenty years ago. I want nothing to do with any of them,’ Thomas replied, pausing for a moment.

‘Please,’ Emily begged. ‘Sebastian was murdered for the crown. He sent me to find the heir to the throne, but they still got there first. They framed me for Sebastian’s murder; that’s why they came looking for us. If you won’t help me, at least help the real heir to the throne before Anthony takes the crown and invokes The Prophecy of Days.

‘I don’t know what the prophecy will do, but I know it can’t be anything good. Sebastian never told me what it was, but I overheard him talking to someone about it. He was worried!’

‘I know my brother’s feelings about the prophecy,’ Thomas said. ‘He just assumed that I would do anything he asked, like last time.’

‘What happened last time?’ Emily asked, taken aback.

‘He told me to leave Tristan and start a new life out here,’ Thomas explained. ‘That was all fine by me; I wanted nothing to do with the crown in the first place. Then a few years later, he turned up with a baby boy.

‘Apparently the child had been left at an orphanage in Tristan. When my brother saw the child, he told me to look after him because he was in danger. I’ve done everything he asked of me. I won’t do any more.’

‘I don’t know why Sebastian would ask you to do all of this after you tried to steal the crown, but he must have had a reason to trust you,’ Lewis said as he took Emily’s hand. ‘Let’s go, Emily; we’ll have to find someone else.’

They had barely taken a couple of steps before Thomas called after them. ‘I didn’t try to steal the crown.’

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

‘What?’ Lewis asked, pausing for a moment.

‘I didn’t try to steal the crown,’ Thomas repeated.

‘Edmund told us you were exiled from Tristan for trying to steal the crown,’ said Lewis before turning away.

‘That’s what Sebastian wanted everyone to think!’

Turning to face Thomas, Lewis considered the man before him. ‘Go on.’

‘Twenty years ago, I was framed for trying to steal the crown. I had seen Anthony acting strangely for several weeks,’ Thomas explained. ‘When I decided to follow him one night, I caught him trying to steal the crown. The sly bastard pinned it all on me. He claimed that I was the one trying to steal the crown and he had caught me, not the other way around.’

‘Sebastian believed him?’ Emily asked. ‘I didn’t think they were very close.’

‘No, he didn’t. Everyone else did believe him, though; that was the problem,’ Thomas said. ‘When I told him about how strangely Anthony had been acting, he discounted Anthony’s story. If anyone in the castle would notice a difference in his behaviour, it was me.’

‘But he still exiled you,’ Emily reminded him.

‘That was what everyone was led to believe,’ Thomas said. ‘You know what they say: keep your friends close and your enemies’ closer. Sebastian wanted Anthony close so that he could keep a better eye on him. My exile was just to make Anthony believe that he had gotten away with it.’

‘Sebastian still moved the crown, though,’ Emily said.

‘He did. What had happened made him realise how vulnerable it was when it was being kept in the castle,’ Thomas explained. ‘Ever since Arden’s death, the crown has been kept in a tomb far from Tristan except for coronations. I don’t know why Sebastian hadn’t returned it after his own, but after the incident at the castle he did.’

‘Edmund said that no one has been able to get into the tomb to get the crown,’ Lewis said. ‘He thought you might know how to open the tomb.’

‘Edmund would be correct,’ Thomas said. ‘It wasn’t until a couple of years ago that Sebastian told me, though. When he realised he was ill, he began making plans for his successor to the throne. He knew that when he died, the crown would be needed again. This time it was different, though. Before, a note had been left with instructions on how to get the crown, but Sebastian didn’t want to risk the wrong person finding it. Especially Anthony.’

‘He told you how to get into the tomb instead?’ Lewis asked.

‘Correct. He also told his son, Dominic, and Dominic’s father-in-law, Charles Hargrove, whom he was good friends with,’ Thomas said. ‘Including Sebastian, there were only four of us in the world who knew how to get to the crown. He wanted to make sure that when his illness finally caught up with him, if something had happened to one of us, there would be someone else who knew how to get into the tomb.’

‘I didn’t know Sebastian was ill,’ Emily interrupted.

‘He had been for many years. Knowing my brother, he would have hidden it well. I’d be surprised if anyone outside his immediate family knew,’ Thomas said.

‘Surely they could have found a cure for it, though,’ Emily said desperately.

‘They tried, believe me. Shadow Scar is an ancient disease; there wasn’t anything they could do,’ Thomas sighed.

‘That’s why he refused the antidote then,’ Emily said suddenly.

‘What antidote?’

‘The night he was poisoned, he gave me this,’ Emily said as she rummaged in her bag, pulling out the tiny vial of liquid that Sebastian had given her. ‘It’s supposed to be a cure for poisons. I tried to give it to him, but he told me to keep it.’

‘He knew it would only prolong his life a little,’ Thomas said as he examined the vial. ‘Shadow Scar would still have caught up with him sooner or later.’

‘Why didn’t he tell me?’ Emily asked.

‘I don’t know that,’ Thomas said. ‘Now, I’ve told you what I can. I suggest that you go and find Dominic or Charles Hargrove if you want to get into the tomb; I have far too much to do here to go gallivanting off with you two.’

‘We can’t,’ Lewis said.

‘Why not? I’m sure Edmund knows where one of them is at the very least.’

‘I’m sure he does. They’re both dead,’ Lewis said harshly.

‘What?’

‘Dominic, my father, was killed in a hunting accident two years ago,’ Lewis said.

‘Sebastian sent me looking for Charles Hargrove the night he died, but people from the castle got to him first,’ Emily said, taking over Lewis’ explanation. ‘We were in the castle jail when they took him out to be executed.’

‘They’re both gone? I’m the only one left?’ Thomas asked, taken aback.

‘You’re the only one left,’ Lewis confirmed. ‘That’s why we need you to help us.’

‘Are you sure Charles didn’t tell them anything?’ Thomas asked, a worried look crossing his face for the first time since they had told him what had happened.

‘We don’t know for sure, but if Edmund sent us to find you, then I don’t think he could have,’ Emily said.

‘He’s trying to get the crown again, isn’t he?’ Thomas spoke slowly.

‘This time he has the backing of the castle, though. Everyone thinks that he is the heir to the throne,’ Lewis said. ‘Everyone except for Edmund at least. Sooner or later, they’re going to find a way to get into the tomb. We need to get there first.’

‘Sebastian gave up everything to protect Tristan; surely you can’t let it all go to waste. I was a Sister of Tristan. I don’t know why Sebastian picked me out of some dirty old orphanage, but maybe it’s my turn to do my bit now,’ Emily said desperately.

‘I know exactly who you are,’ Thomas said quietly. ‘Better than you know yourself.’

‘Will you help us?’ Lewis asked quickly before Emily could come up with a retort.

‘Arthur, find Amanda and meet me back at the house,’ Thomas said without breaking eye contact with Emily. When Arthur had disappeared into the crowd, Thomas turned to Lewis. ‘I’ll take you to the crown and show you how to get in. After that, you’re on your own. I want nothing more to do with Tristan after that.’

‘Alright,’ Lewis said. How they would get back to Tristan, he had no idea, but it looked as if this was going to be the best offer they were going to get from Thomas.

‘Follow me then; we have a lot of work to do and very little time to do it in,’ Thomas said, ushering them towards the tunnel where they had entered the council chambers.