‘You can go, you know,’ Tiago said sharply. ‘No one asked you here.’

Joe glanced at Yannic to see how he’d react. They needed 234him. He might be irritating, but he was an experienced fighter and their route into the Brotherhood.

‘No, no, no, my friend. You see, I’m counting on collect­ing a juicy reward from Joe’s sister, for keeping him alive through this. Been thinking of retiring to Sartola, nice little villa with a view of the sea …’ Yannic hawked up a gobbet of phlegm and spat it hard.

Joe knew this was all an act. He’d seen what lay behind Yannic’s bravado – that bottomless grief – and he also understood why someone might want to hide that behind a mask. He was working hard to keep his own sadness at bay and focus on their plan.

‘I know, I know,’ Yannic was saying. ‘That also requires the general to remain alive. So you see, that’s why I’m here. To save Joe’s sister, richest woman on the island, and babysit her little brother meanwhile. Don’t tell me you couldn’t use the help.’

‘You want to help?’ Joe copied Yannic’s tone, arrogant and commanding, to get him to listen. ‘You can start by telling us about the Brotherhood. How many are they?’

‘That’s the thing.’ Yannic puffed his chest out impor­tantly now he was the centre of attention. ‘They’re only five hundred men. They’re outnumbered by the actual army who are now locked up in the barracks. They were counting on surprise. And making lots of noise. And when I say noise, I mean, chopping off—’

‘Right,’ Conor interrupted him, seeing Amina’s face. ‘So that’s the first thing – we need to free the duke’s real soldiers.’

‘Easier said than done.’ Yannic sounded as if he was 235enjoying this. ‘They’ve turned the palace back into the for­tress it once was. Palace grounds are locked and guarded day and night.’

‘We could use the big dragons you freed from the drag­onhall,’ Flavia said.

‘But how do we get word to the others?’ Tiago asked. ‘If they fled to Sartola? Our dragons aren’t big enough to ride on. They chose their moment well.’

Joe put his head in his hands. There were too many el­ements to consider. It all seemed so daunting. Yannic had it right – they were just children, what did they know? His mother was injured; his father was dead. Isak was on Sartola. No one had seen Milla since she left with Thom. The city was under curfew. They’d never be ready in time. The Brotherhood would put his sister on trial, decide she was guilty, and he didn’t want to think about what that meant.

He stopped the spiral of despair before it could take him any further down. Who else was going to stop the Brotherhood? He had to focus on what they had, not what they lacked. They did have two days. He wasn’t alone any more. There were seven of them. And they had something no one else knew about: the secret tunnels.