When Lewis woke the morning after the argument, he found, to his relief, that Emily was still sleeping. After getting changed quickly, he shouldered his bag and slipped out of Mrs. Miller’s spare room. Having bid Mrs. Miller a good morning, he set off for Thomas’ house.

Knocking loudly on the door, he waited patiently as he listened to the hurried footsteps from inside. It was still a couple of minutes, during which time he surveyed the giant purple daisies beside the door, before the door finally opened. Standing in the doorway was Amanda, a pale blue dressing gown wrapped tightly around her.

‘He’s been expecting you,’ she said, stepping aside to let him pass. Once she had closed the door again, she led him through the house to the dining room, where Thomas and Arthur were sitting at the table talking quietly.

‘Morning Lewis,’ Thomas said, looking up as they entered. For a second, his eyebrows crinkled. ‘Where’s Emily?’

‘She’s still asleep,’ Lewis replied, deciding that he didn’t want to mention the argument they had had to anyone else. It was bad enough that Mrs. Miller had overheard them the night before.

‘It’s to be expected, I suppose,’ Thomas sighed. ‘Arthur was telling me how you’ve been travelling nonstop since you left Whitecliff.’

‘It has been exhausting,’ Lewis said, yawning as he sat down opposite Arthur.

‘I’m afraid you’ll still have a fair bit of travelling to do,’ Thomas said.

‘How long does it take to get to The Misty Islands?’ Lewis asked, taking a piece of toast from the plate that Thomas offered him.

‘Probably somewhere between five and seven days,’ Thomas said. ‘A lot of it depends on the weather out there. The Misty Islands are dangerous to sail near at the best of times. If the fog comes down or the sea gets too rough, we might have to stand off for a while.’

‘Has Jonathan ever been down that way?’ Arthur asked as he took another slice of toast.

‘He’s sailed to Westerfort on the south coast a couple of times, but no one with any sense ever goes near The Misty Islands,’ Thomas said.

‘Surely people have been there before, though,’ Amanda said, sitting down next to Lewis now that she had gotten dressed.

‘Many people have been there, I assure you. Whether they come back is a different story, though,’ Thomas said solemnly.

‘That doesn’t sound too good for our trip,’ Lewis said as he finished his toast.

‘I’ll be the first to admit that this doesn’t fill anyone with confidence,’ Thomas said. ‘Sooner or later, Anthony will figure out how to open the tomb, though.’

‘Let’s just hope that we get there first then,’ Lewis said as Thomas nodded.

‘There are a few things we need—supplies, etcetera,’ Thomas said as he produced a folded piece of paper, handing it to Arthur. ‘I need the two of you to go and pick up the things on this list from the market.’

‘Why can’t I go?’ Amanda asked.

‘Some things still need to be sorted out here; besides, Arthur has already packed and you haven’t,’ Thomas said firmly. ‘You shouldn’t have any trouble with the stuff on there,’ Thomas continued, addressing Lewis and Arthur. With a nod, they both rose to their feet, leaving Amanda to complain about being stuck in the house without them.

‘What’s on the list then?’ Lewis asked as they walked down the garden path to the street.

‘Nothing too difficult to find,’ Arthur replied as he unfolded the list again. ‘Ropes, oil lamps, climbing equipment, and a star map? Wait, that’s been crossed out already.’

‘We already have a star map; Emily found one at the market in Arcis,’ Lewis said as he looked at the list over Arthur’s shoulder.

‘How on earth did you get hold of it? I heard they’re supposed to be really rare,’ Arthur asked.

‘They are, apparently,’ Lewis said. ‘The guy selling it had no idea what it was. He thought it was a piece of rubbish.’

‘That was a stroke of luck,’ Arthur said.

‘Emily was the one who found it. I didn’t even know what it was until she showed me,’ Lewis explained.

‘So, what’s going on with you and my sister? If you don’t mind me asking,’ Arthur said with a laugh.

‘I don’t know right now,’ Lewis admitted. ‘We had a bit of an argument last night when we got to Mrs. Miller’s house.’

‘An argument?’

‘It was different,’ Lewis said. ‘I mean, we’ve argued before. Especially in the weeks when we were fighting our way through the snow to get to Whitecliff. We would normally stop talking for a couple of days, and then everything would go back to normal.’

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‘You know we can’t have people not talking to each other on this trip,’ Arthur said seriously as they entered the market. ‘This trip is dangerous enough as it is. You two can’t put everyone else in danger because you won’t talk to each other.’

‘There wouldn’t be a problem, but I have no idea what started it,’ Lewis said as he watched Arthur pick up a huge coil of rope and examine it.

‘What did she say?’ he asked as he tested the strength of the rope. ‘Five of these, please.’

‘She saw me and Amanda talking after Thomas told us to give you some time to talk with Emily,’ Lewis said as Arthur paid the man behind the stall for the five huge coils of rope. ‘We got to Mrs. Miller's, and she just flipped.’

Passing two of the ropes to Lewis, Arthur laughed as he shouldered the remaining three. ‘I wouldn’t worry about it too much.’

‘You wouldn’t?’ Lewis was taken aback as Arthur headed for the stall that had been behind them and was displaying all types of oil lamps.

‘No,’ he said as he started examining them. ‘I’ve seen it before a few times.’

‘Seen what before?’

‘We’ll take this one,’ Arthur said, pointing to the medium-sized black lamp he had been examining. ‘Can you throw in a couple of oil refills as well?’

‘Of course,’ the woman behind the stall said as she bustled over to the table behind her in search of the refills Arthur had requested.

‘I’m guessing while you’ve been travelling you haven’t really been around many people,’ Arthur said as he began counting out the money for the lamp and oil. When Lewis shook his head, he continued. ‘She feels threatened.’

‘What?’ Lewis asked as Arthur opened his bag with one hand, placing the lamp and small containers of oil in it.

‘I don’t really know what your relationship with my sister was like when you were travelling, but she thinks it might change because of Amanda. She isn’t the first one to think that,’ Arthur said as he set off among the stalls searching for the climbing equipment.

‘Why would things change because of Amanda?’ Lewis asked.

‘I’m not saying they would. You probably don’t think they will either, but she doesn’t know that,’ Arthur said. ‘You just need to tell her that, and I’m sure things will all work out.’

‘How do you know all of this?’ Lewis asked, taken aback by Arthur’s speech.

‘It’s a speech I’ve had to make on a few occasions before,’ Arthur laughed. ‘Amanda has a way of coming off as more than friendly. It’s been happening as long as I can remember.’

‘I see,’ Lewis muttered as they stopped in front of another stall. While he watched Arthur sort out the equipment that had been put on the list, he looked around the market. Could Arthur be right? He said he had seen this happen before. Now that he thought about it, he regretted leaving Mrs. Miller’s house without waking her or at least leaving a note. She must be wondering where he has gone.

‘Right, that’s everything,’ Arthur said as he closed his bag on the climbing equipment he had just purchased. ‘Let’s get this lot back before one of us ends up with a bad back.’

‘Maybe we should stop by Mrs. Miller’s,’ Lewis said thoughtfully. ‘Just in case Emily is wondering where I am.’

‘We’ll go after we drop this back at Thomas’ house,’ Arthur said, wincing as he adjusted his bag awkwardly.

‘Let me take the ropes,’ Lewis said. Stopping in the middle of the market, Arthur managed to shrug the coils of rope from around his shoulder so that Lewis could carry them. ‘Do we really need all this stuff?’

‘Apparently,’ Arthur said with a laugh as they set off again. ‘I suppose it’s better to be on the safe side. It is a long way to go if we forget something.’

‘Speaking of being on the safe side,’ Lewis muttered, nodding to the two men who were walking ahead of them, swords sheathed at their waists. ‘Where do you think they’re going?’

‘No idea,’ Arthur said quietly as they followed them around the corner and into the next street. ‘They aren’t dressed like mercenaries.’

‘Well, that’s a good thing,’ Lewis said as they turned another corner to find at least a dozen men with swords standing in Thomas’ garden talking amongst themselves. ‘Although they are all standing in your garden.’

‘So they are,’ Arthur muttered, just as baffled by their appearance as Lewis. It wasn’t like they had been gone for a long time.

As they approached Thomas’ house, the front door opened, and Thomas appeared. Behind him, Jonathan, Emily, and Amanda filed out, laden down with bags, one of which looked like Lewis’. ‘There you two are!’ Thomas called to them when he saw them. ‘Did you get everything?’

‘All here,’ Arthur replied, lifting his bag full of climbing equipment slightly. ‘What’s going on?’

‘This is the crew of Jonathan’s ship. Apparently, we’re ready to go. We were just waiting for you to get back,’ Thomas said as Lewis and Arthur joined the crowd.

‘Is everyone ready?’ Jonathan called as the dull murmur died down. The crew had just fallen silent when they all called for their agreement. ‘Let’s get going then.’

As one, the crowd filed down the garden path and out into the road. ‘You’ve got everything?’ Thomas asked as he caught up with Lewis and Arthur.

‘It’s all here,’ Arthur said, tapping his bag with one hand.

‘The star map?’

‘Emily had it last time I saw it,’ Lewis said, glancing over his shoulder at her. Whatever objection she had had to Amanda, it had clearly been resolved as they were now walking side by side. When Thomas turned to face her, she produced the tiny glass prism from her bag. It seemed that she had been listening to their conversation. Nodding, Thomas turned to one of the crew members who was walking on his other side and struck up a conversation.

Everything felt quite bizarre to Lewis as they walked through the town with their armed escort. Everywhere he looked, the people of Eraea were scurrying into the shadows as if they feared that the mercenaries had returned.

It wasn’t long before they passed what remained of The Red Clover, leaving the town behind as they headed down towards the docks. From his vantage point on the hillside, Lewis could see half a dozen small boats moored up alongside the sea wall. All of them were dwarfed by the vessel that sat at the end of the landing pier, though.

‘She’s called The Wings of Gold,’ the man walking beside Lewis said when he saw him looking at the ship. ‘That’s our home for the next few days at least.’ Nodding, Lewis turned his attention to the road that wound its way down to the docks.

A few days, he thought. A few more days, and they would have the crown. After that, he just had to find a way to get Tristan, have his coronation that would prevent the prophecy, and step aside. Then he would be free of all of this.

Just a few more days, he told himself, and he could go back to Whitecliff and the house beside the sea. Maybe he would check in on Fir Lodge after he left Tristan; he didn’t want to think about what might have happened to the place after he and Emily had attacked Commander Redmond there.

Just a few more days, he thought with a sigh.