‘I know you’re busy,’ he said one day, after rudely barging into Lex’s bedroom where he was trying to study. ‘But if you could just help Lucius sometimes with your grandfather it would help him enormously-’
‘Sod off,’ Lex said, without looking up from his textbook. ‘I’m trying to learn how to be a lawyer here.’
‘Alistair won’t be with us much longer,’ Zachary said quietly. ‘So if you don’t make time for him now, you won’t get another chance to say goodbye.’
‘Let’s not talk as if he’s already dead, shall we?’ Lex asked in a loud voice. ‘I realise you’re earning yourself some serious brownie points with my brother right now but that doesn’t give you the right to forget your place. You’re a servant! And you’d do well to remember it if you don’t want to lose your job!’
Lex was pleased to note that Zachary reddened slightly at that. ‘You can’t fire me,’ he said stiffly. ‘I’m employed by your grandfather, not by you.’
‘Yes, but he’ll kick the bucket soon, won’t he?’ Lex asked, standing up suddenly. ‘Then guess who’ll inherit the farm? When he’s gone, I shall make it my personal responsibility to see that you go, too!’
Zachary narrowed his eyes angrily. ‘I know you were very close to Alistair,’ he said at last. ‘But he would be ashamed of you and the way you’re behaving if he could see you now.’
After an uncomfortable spasm of shocked, angry guilt, Lex lunged forward, knocking things over in his haste to hit Zachary in the mouth. Lex didn’t tend to get involved in physical fights because he knew he wouldn’t win them. He wasn’t stupid — Zachary was a large, broad-shouldered forty-year-old farmhand and Lex was a skinny fifteen year old who’d never done a day’s hard labour in his life. Fortunately Zachary did not hit him back, although he very much looked like he wanted to. He just stalked away, one hand held to his bleeding lip, and never said another word about it. But the already strained relationship was certainly not improved by that incident.
‘Now shut up so I can land the ship,’ Lex snapped at Schmidt. ‘I fully intend to find that crown before the prophet does.’
He stomped off to the prow, took a couple of deep breaths to collect himself and then closed his eyes and threw out his arms in a dramatic pose because he knew it irritated the lawyer. He concentrated all his thoughts on visualising what he needed to do and then slowly and expertly brought the great ship down to the valley floor. He was very adept at controlling the ship already and it landed gently with barely a tremble of impact.
‘Is there nothing I can’t do?’ Lex asked, turning back to Schmidt with a broad smile, all irritation now properly suppressed.
Lex made Schmidt go down the ladder first this time so that he could go after him, treading on his fingers where necessary to speed him up a little. It went without saying that Lucius wasn’t a threat, he was still messing about inside the ship, but the prophet was already in the Royal Forest and Lex knew it would be dangerous to underestimate him just because he’d lost Theba and then made a silly mistake with the quicksand in the last round. After all, he was the Judge’s player, so he couldn’t be totally incompetent. When he jumped down onto the ground, Lex ignored the glare the lawyer was giving him as he pointedly rubbed his bruised fingers, and set off down one of the emerald pathways towards the forest.
Winning the first two rounds of the Game was not as important as winning the third one. The last round was the most dangerous and the real decider of who won the Game for the points accumulated during the first two rounds were wiped clean before the third round even began. The only thing those points were actually good for (aside from earning the player a good reputation and some adoring fans) was that they gave the winning player a headstart for the all-important third round. Therefore, Lex could have conceivably lost both the first two rounds and still won the Game overall if he was able to triumph in the third round despite the disadvantage of a late start. But it was not just about winning the Game in the end; it was about winning the Game all the way through, and Lex would have felt that way even if a royal crown hadn’t been involved. But now that he knew about it, he was, if possible, even more determined to win than he’d been before.
All the paths in the Golden Valley were made of pebbled emeralds that had been embedded into the ground and sparkled underfoot. Lex wondered how easy it would be to prise some of them up and decided to give it a go on the way back if there was time. The emeralds would fetch a handsome price back in the Wither City or anywhere else in the Lands Above.
Some of the kings came to the windows of their palaces as Lex and Schmidt passed to stare out at them curiously before disappearing hurriedly back inside again. They did not get many visitors in the Golden Valley since it was a forbidden place to all but royalty and their servants under usual circumstances, and inbred fears of assassins resurfaced as soon as the kings caught sight of strangers. They probably wouldn’t even stop him if he started chipping gold off the walls outside as long as he didn’t actually try to get in. It would be so painfully easy, it would be almost sacrilegious not to line his pockets before he left. Lex promised himself that he’d see what could be done about that after he’d found the crown.
He paused at the entrance to the Royal Forest. It was kept well stocked with deer for the kings to hunt. But it was also enchanted. There were talking trees and it was also said that many fairy godmothers retired to the forest because the only people who lived in the valley were kings and they were a contented lot, having already fulfilled their life’s dreams. This was probably the only forest on the Globe where the fairy godmothers were not likely to be bothered by any poor woodcutters or lost children whining about wishes.
‘There probably isn’t anything all that dangerous here,’ Lex said. ‘But magical things are unpredictable, so keep an eye out anyway, all right?’ He adjusted the straps of his bag and crept into the dark creepiness of the forest, revelling in the uneasy familiarity of it whilst the distinctly unhappy lawyer followed on behind him.
Lucius fastened Zachary’s halter and made his way up to the top of the ship using the coloured length of string Lex had set up for him. To say that Lucius was feeling miserable would have been to put it very mildly indeed. He had found the Game much easier when Zachary had been there to reassure him. Since his grandfather’s death, Lucius had come to rely very much on Zachary’s help with the day-to-day running of the farm. He would have been lost without him and had found his presence immensely comforting in the first round of the Game. But Lex had taken even that small comfort away in a childish moment of petty spite and Lucius couldn’t help but resent him just a little for that. Lex always had been one to hold a grudge and he would never forgive Zachary for all the bitterness of the past.
Zachary hadn’t been himself since becoming a ferret, even trying to bite Lucius on more than one occasion when he’d gone to stoke him. Lucius didn’t even want to be part of this Game — he had always been rubbish at these competitive things and he was very aware of Jezra’s anger and it worried him. He’d had no choice but to take part or Jezra would have turned him into a wooden chessman — a lowly pawn, knowing Lucius’s luck. The only good thing about the Game was that it had given him the opportunity to see his brother again. He hadn’t realised how much he’d missed Lex until he’d seen him again in Mahara’s Black Tower in Khestrii. He was half hoping that he might be able to persuade him to come home after the Game but even Lucius realised that this was probably a futile hope. Lex was far too set on his own path to be talked off it by anyone.
He opened the door and stepped out onto the deck, revelling for a moment in the beauty of Saydi’s sun and the gentle warmth of the sun drizzle that flecked his skin within moments. But then he froze as he heard Jezra’s voice from the level above. Lucius had no wish for his already disgruntled God to see how late he was, having left at least twenty minutes behind the others, so he started to creep towards the ladder, hoping to slip down over the edge without Jezra noticing, but then he heard his brother’s name being spoken and froze.
‘It can only benefit both of us to get rid of Lex Trent, my Lord,’ Jezra said softly. ‘I beg you to reconsider.’
There was silence for a moment before Lucius heard the Judge. ‘How can you know that Lucius won’t get to the crown first and bewitch himself instead of Lex?’
Jezra gave a contemptuous snort, which seemed to be all he considered necessary for an answer. ‘I accept that I am going to lose this time, my Lord,’ he said. ‘The Goddess of Luck tricked me into choosing Lucius Trent and as such I realise I’m going to be utterly handi — capped for the rest of the Game. All I care about now is seeing her Ladyship lose and I will thwart her any way that I can. So we have a common goal in this. All I ask is that you keep the prophet back in this round and let Lex find the crown first. I managed to bewitch it without Lady Luck’s knowledge. As soon as he puts the crown on, a poison will pass into his system and that will be the end of Lex Trent as far as the Game is concerned.’
Lucius couldn’t help the harsh intake of breath and clapped his hand over his mouth hurriedly. He waited for the Judge to admonish Jezra for such a vile act of cheating, but after a few moments the Judge said, ‘Very well. I will keep my player out of this round. I very much hope your plan works, Lord Jezra.’
