Lewis had no idea how long they had been walking through the frozen forest for. All that he knew was that, judging by the lack of sunlight, it was getting late. Since he had first noticed that it was starting to get dark it had become increasingly difficult to pick their way through the trees. They needed to find somewhere to make camp soon.

‘What about there?’ Emily said suddenly.

When it had started to get dark he had told her that they needed to find somewhere that they could stop for the night. Since then, they had both been trying to scout the dark forest as best as they could.

Turning, Lewis looked to see where she was pointing. At the side of the path they had been walking along was an opening in the rocky hillside, a small overhang above the entrance. ‘Let’s check it out,’ Lewis said as he stopped.

Walking over to the opening he looked inside. It looked like the entrance to a cave. Lifting the oil lamp, which he had brought with them and lit when it was getting dark, he squeezed through the gap between the jagged rocks.

As the light bounced off the rocks he looked around. It was a small chamber that was just about big enough to stand in. Ducking under a chunk of rock that hung down he let Emily in to the chamber.

‘I think this is the best we’re going to find,’ he said as he put the lamp down on the floor. He had been hoping that they would have been able to find something warmer. If it hadn’t got dark so quickly they might have made it to the edge of the forest and found a barn or something they could stay in for the night. As it happened, they would have to make do with a cold cave.

‘What do we do now?’ Emily asked, looking around at the tiny chamber as she slipped past him.

‘We need to get a fire started,’ he said as he put down his bag. ‘It will keep us warm and we can cook the rabbit that I caught earlier.’

Emily’s face fell. She hadn’t liked watching him kill the rabbit. Lewis didn’t like doing it either but without it they would starve out here with no proper supplies.

‘I’ll see if I can find some wood,’ she said as she eyed the dead rabbit that was lying on the floor beside Lewis’ bag. With a nod he squeezed himself against the wall of the chamber so that she could pass him.

When she had disappeared out of the cave, he picked up the rabbit, pulling a knife from inside his bag. Hopefully he could get the rabbit ready for cooking before she got back, he thought as he sat down in the entrance to the cave. Only the Precursors knew what she would do if she saw what he was doing after he had killed the rabbit.

From his spot in the entrance of the cave he looked out at the forest as he went to work on the rabbit. He could just about make out Emily’s lone figure wandering between the trees on the other side of the path they had been following.

Lewis hadn’t particularly wanted to follow the path at first but when he had seen that it was mostly free of snow he had decided it was best. Without the snow on the path their tracks had disappeared. If anyone had tried to follow them they would have no idea which direction they had gone in. Now all they needed to do was stay ahead of the guards and reach The Green Valley before them. Hopefully then they would be able to find out what King Vandemark had wanted Charles to do when he had died.

Satisfied with his work, he lay the chopped-up pieces of rabbit down on the cleanest patch of rock that he could find. Pausing, he listened to the periodic cracking as Emily broke dead branches from the fir trees somewhere nearby.

Picking up the remains of the rabbit that he hadn’t been able to use, he slipped out of the cave, throwing them up the steep hill. Hearing them thud to the ground somewhere in the darkness he turned away.

‘Emily?’ he called, trying to spot her amongst the trees.

‘Down here,’ she replied from somewhere down the slope on the other side of the path. A few moments later the sound of rustling filled the air as she appeared from between the trees. Balanced on one arm was a stack of small wooden sticks. Her other hand was behind her back, dragging a long dead branch after her.

‘I’ll get it,’ Lewis said as he took the big branch from her. Holding it out, he stamped on it, the brittle wood breaking in to three more manageable pieces.

‘Where do you want these?’ she asked as she adjusted the pile of kindling wood.

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‘Somewhere just inside the cave,’ he said as he picked up the pieces of the branch. ‘Mind the food!’ he called after her as she slipped between the rocks.

When she had disappeared inside, he followed after her, being careful not to step on the pieces of cut up rabbit. Inside the cave she was setting down the bundle of sticks next to their bags.

‘That’s fine there,’ he said as he added the logs he was carrying to the pile. ‘I put the cooking pot in my bag, can you get it and put some snow in there?’

‘Sure,’ she said uncertainly as she pulled the pot out of his bag with a tug. Taking the handful of smaller metal cups out of it she disappeared out of the cave again.

Picking up some of the kindling wood he carried it to the entrance of the cave. Thanks to the overhang above the entrance, he was able to find a dry spot just outside the cave where he could light the fire. Leaving the wood there momentarily he slipped back inside the cave, returning with the last of the bread that was wrapped in one of The Hargrove Bakery’s trademark paper bags and the oil lamp.

Taking the bread out of the bag he put it down beside the chopped-up rabbit. Ripping the paper bag in half he scrunched it up, stuffing it into the gaps between the kindling wood. Tearing off a small strip of the paper he offered it to the flame of the lamp. Holding out the burning paper to the small fire he had set he watched as the paper caught alight.

Looking away from the fire he saw Emily walking up the path towards him, the cooking pot held in both hands. ‘I didn’t know how much you needed,’ she said as she put the pot down in front of him.

‘That’s fine,’ he said as he looked in the half full pot. ‘Do you think you could get some more wood?’

‘Sure,’ she said as she held her hands out over the small fire, warming them briefly.

‘Thanks,’ he replied as he handed her the lamp. ‘You might as well take this with you. I’ll be fine now that I have the light from the fire.’

As Emily disappeared off into the darkness once again, Lewis stoked the fire using some of the branch that he had taken off her. The flames were just beginning to roar as he managed to prop the cooking pot up over the fire so that he could start cooking.

‘Did your father teach you all of this as well?’ Emily asked as she dropped a pile of logs down in the entrance to their cave.

‘Pretty much,’ he said as he looked up at her. In the light of the fire, he could see a handful of fir needles sticking out of her hair. ‘You have needles in your hair by the way.’

Pushing her long hair over her shoulder she ran her fingers through it, pulling the needles out as she got to them. ‘Thanks,’ she said when she was done, sitting down beside him in front of the fire. ‘Can I ask you something?’

‘Sure,’ he replied without looking up as he added the rabbit to the pot in front of him.

‘What could your grandfather possibly know about the letter from Sebastian?’

‘I don’t know,’ he said after a moment. ‘Perhaps it was something that was mentioned when they went hunting.’

‘Your grandfather and Sebastian went hunting together?’

‘Occasionally,’ Lewis said. ‘My father went with them a few times before he died. Sebastian’s brother and son used to go with them as well. My grandfather stopped going a couple of years ago though.’

‘Why did he stop going?’ Emily asked, tilting her head to the side slightly as she considered him.

‘My father was killed in a hunting accident two years ago. He had gone hunting with them when it happened,’ Lewis explained as he looked up. ‘Have I got needles in my hair as well?’

‘No,’ she said quickly as he reached up to run his hand through his hair. ‘You look a lot like Sebastian in his coronation picture that hangs in his office.’

‘It’s funny, my grandfather told me that once,’ Lewis said with a laugh as he poked at the rabbit meat with the knife. ‘I think it’s nearly ready.’

‘What was your father’s name?’ she asked as he stood up. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry, it’s none of my business.’

‘Dominic,’ Lewis called over his shoulder as he slipped in to the cave to get his bag.

When he returned to the fireside, he found Emily sat in silence, staring thoughtfully at the dark forest. For several minutes she continued to sit in silence while he finished preparing the food.

‘I think you should read this,’ she said, breaking the silence as she pulled the envelope addressed to Charles Hargrove out of her pocket.

‘This is the letter for my grandfather though,’ Lewis said as he took it from her slowly. ‘Do you know what’s in it?’

‘No.’

‘Then why do you think I should read it?’

‘In Sebastian’s office at the castle is a tapestry. It has the entire Vandemark family tree on it, all the way back to Arden Vandemark who built the city. On that tapestry it shows Sebastian having three children,’ she said.

‘He doesn’t?’

‘He has two, Anthony and Danielle, both of whom live at the castle. The third child on that tapestry is older than both of them. The name on the tapestry was Dominic,’ she said, watching him closely.

‘But there must be loads of people in Tristan with the same name,’ Lewis said as he considered the envelope in his hands.

‘Before he died, Sebastian told me that the future of the kingdom is inside that envelope,’ Emily said. ‘If he wrote that letter to your grandfather then he must know who the next heir to the throne is.’

‘We should take this to my uncle’s house,’ Lewis insisted as he handed the envelope back to her. ‘My grandmother should be there; she might know what’s in the letter.’

‘But what if it’s you? You look a lot like Sebastian when he was younger,’ Emily objected.

‘I’m not a king Emily!’ Lewis said in frustration as he dished out the cooked rabbit, hoping that the food would stop her speculating. ‘We’ll show the letter to my grandmother and see what she knows.’

Thankfully she took her food, which had been piled on to the part of the paper bag that was being used as a substitute for a plate, and fell silent.

He wasn’t a king, he thought, he was just an archer in the guard who was now running for his life. Perhaps they would get some answers when they got to The Green Valley. Judging by the amount of ground they had covered since they had left the cabin there couldn’t be much further to go.