Having sent Arthur off to find Amanda, it didn’t take Lewis, Emily, and Thomas long to reach Thomas’ house. For the most part, the streets were still deserted in the wake of the mercenary raid. Thankfully, they seemed to have disappeared now, only leaving behind a handful of damaged buildings, one of which happened to be The Red Clover.

Since he had agreed to help them enter the tomb, Thomas’ attitude towards them had thawed slightly. Despite that, it was still clear to Lewis that he wasn’t happy about helping them. It came as a relief to Lewis when Thomas decided to send him and Arthur to the small market to deliver a letter for him.

At first, Amanda had offered to go with him instead of Arthur, but Thomas held her back, sending her on another errand for him instead. Somewhat reluctantly, Lewis had left Emily with Thomas as he followed Arthur towards the market.

‘So, is there any reason Thomas has sent us to deliver his letter?’ Lewis asked, breaking the silence between them.

‘Jonathan Powell is a friend of Thomas,’ Arthur explained. ‘He also happens to be a fisherman who owes Thomas a favour.’

‘Thomas wants to use his boat to get to the tomb, then?’ Lewis guessed.

‘I’m fairly sure that’s what Thomas is hoping. Without him, we would need to find another boat that would take us to The Misty Islands,’ Arthur said as they turned a corner that revealed a small market made up of twenty or so small stalls. ‘Something that would be almost impossible to do, I reckon.’

‘Why would it be impossible?’

‘The Misty Islands are a dangerous place to sail close to. Over there,’ Arthur replied, pointing out a stall that was laden with half a dozen different types of fish.

‘Why is it so dangerous?’ Lewis asked.

‘As the name suggests, it is more often than not very misty there. Hundreds of ships have been lost in the fog, run aground, or sunk in the area. There was one not too long ago, actually,’ Arthur recalled as they approached the man in his early forties who stood behind the fish stall. ‘Afternoon Jonathan!’

‘’Ello Arthur,’ Jonathan said as he looked up. ‘I haven’t seen you around in a while.’

‘You know how Thomas likes to keep me busy,’ Arthur said with a laugh. ‘How’s business?’

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‘Not too great today. Those damned mercenaries scared off at least a dozen customers when they came chargin’ through here earlier,’ Jonathan said bitterly as he slit open the belly of a large blue fish with a huge knife without even looking. ‘What can I get you?’

‘Nothing today, I’m afraid. I’m just here to give you this,’ Arthur said as he produced the letter from Thomas, handing it over the table to Jonathan.

Taking it from Arthur, Jonathan considered it for a moment as the fish blood on his hands left fingerprints on the envelope. ‘What is it?’

‘I think I have a fair idea, but I’m not one hundred percent sure. Thomas just asked us to deliver it to you,’ Arthur replied.

‘Alright, I’m just about to start packing up anyway. I’ll have a look when I’m done here,’ Jonathan said as he placed the letter on a small table behind him.

‘Thanks,’ Arthur said as Jonathan pulled the lid off an ice box and began to place his unsold fish in it.

Leaving Jonathan to pack up, Lewis and Arthur set off through the market again. ‘You think he’ll help us?’ Lewis asked when he was sure they were out of earshot.

‘Hopefully. He’s been good friends with Thomas for a long time,’ Arthur replied thoughtfully.

‘What about Amanda?’ Lewis said as he spotted her across the market watching them. For whatever reason, she decided not to approach them, preferring to watch them from a distance.

‘What about her?’

‘Who is she?’

‘She’s Thomas’ granddaughter,’ Arthur said. ‘Why?’

‘I was just wondering,’ Lewis said as Amanda finally looked away from them to talk to someone. It seemed that Arthur hadn’t spotted her.

‘She lives with Thomas as well. Her parents were captured by mercenaries when they raided the town a few years ago,’ Arthur explained. ‘No one has seen them since.’

‘Do you think they’re still alive?’

‘She’s hopeful that they are,’ Arthur sighed.

‘What about you?’

‘I highly doubt it. You’re not from around here; you don’t know what the mercenaries can be like. Let’s just say you would be better off if they killed you right away,’ Arthur said.

‘How often do they come here?’ Lewis asked as they left the market and Amanda behind.

‘Thankfully, not very often,’ Arthur said. ‘Normally they only come looking for someone if they have done them wrong or they’ve been paid by someone else.’

‘So someone paid them to come after me and Emily, then?’

‘That’s the way it looked. Do you know anyone that would want you dead?’ Arthur asked.

‘I can think of a couple of people,’ Lewis said as Anthony and George sprang to mind instantly. ‘No one knows where we are now, though.’

‘What happened? How did you manage to pick up enemies that would pay mercenaries to hunt you down?’ Arthur asked worriedly.

‘Emily was framed for a murder, and I helped her get out of Tristan,’ Lewis explained. ‘We got caught back in Frost but managed to escape from the jail in the castle. For a while, we stayed in a little town called Whitecliff until Edmund found us. Since then, we’ve been travelling all the time.’

‘You’ve come a long way then.’

‘I don’t know how we managed it at times. It took us weeks to walk from Tristan to Whitecliff in the snow,’ Lewis said. ‘Somehow, we got here, though. I’ll be glad when this is all over.’

‘I don’t blame you. Apparently I travelled around a lot when I was really young, but I don’t remember any of it,’ Arthur said. ‘We should be getting back anyway; who knows what Thomas has for us to do next?