‘How can we trust you?’ he demanded, dragging his mind back to the urgent present.

‘Good lad,’ Yannic said. ‘You’re not as daft as you look. Look, I have your sister’s token to prove it.’ From his inside pocket, he took out a gold medal that was stamped with the symbol of the new Arcosi – the dragon in flight below the full moon on one side, then the leaping fish of Sartola on the other. It was supposed to show the unity on the island. 223

‘You could’ve stolen it! She’s your prisoner, after all. I’d be a fool to believe you.’ Joe looked to the others for their thoughts.

‘Don’t trust him!’ Tiago gasped. ‘He almost killed me.’

‘I had a plan, that night,’ Yannic insisted. ‘I’d’ve stopped it, only your mate here got there first.’

‘He did just help us,’ Flavia said, surprising them.

‘Also, we need to move quickly before Noah wakes up,’ Amina said.

Conor nodded in agreement. ‘And Noah won’t know who hit him, so Yannic can still pretend to be loyal if they meet up again … Let’s get out of here – go check for patrols?’ He and Amina started checking the paths were clear to the east, while Flavia and Tiago went to check the opposite way.

‘Why are you helping us?’ Joe asked Yannic, out of earshot of the others. He needed more evidence before he brought a dangerous stranger anywhere near Ren.

‘I was in the old duke’s army, sure. It was a job: didn’t mean I agreed with him. And I don’t agree with the Brotherhood now.’

Joe was unconvinced. ‘But you were there when they nearly killed Tiago. You’ve been there all along!’

‘Keeping cover,’ Yannic retorted. ‘When your sister sent for me last year, said she needed someone on the inside to report back … I said yes. Also, she pays better. The Brotherhood runs on hot air and revenge.’

‘So why didn’t you report? Why didn’t you warn her what they were planning?’ 224

‘I sent the message. I swear to you that I did. But it was coded. Only she and I have the cipher.’

‘So, where is my sister? Is she alive?’ Joe choked out.

‘As I was saying, by the time the message arrived, she was already in labour, and her second, Rosa, was distracted by an explosion in the lower town, just as the Brotherhood wanted. By the time they found my message and decoded it, it was too—’

For a moment, Joe couldn’t speak, then the words burst out. ‘Shut up! Stop babbling! How is my sister? Did you fetch a midwife?’ He found himself hanging on Yannic’s collar with both hands. ‘Tell me!’

‘She’s fine. And her daughter.’

‘She has a daughter! Oh!’ Joe found himself grinning, in spite of everything. ‘I have a niece!’

‘So that’s another reason I’m helping her. You don’t lock up pregnant women. Or new mothers and their babies. Not even when they’re a general.’