And he’d discovered he was good at it. He felt comfortable being back in the saddle. This horse was well trained, a joy to ride. Malik cantered round the arena, getting the feel of it. Golden Boy was standing up and Malik guided the horse towards him, nudging him over with the horse’s flank and, as he tried to get up again, knocking him down again. Some of the crowd were yelling abuse at him, but some were laughing and cheering. They hadn’t expected this. A sicko on a horse.

The Maidenhead boy and the Ascot kid had rescued the fallen Slough girl and taken her to the side. Maidenhead was now running over to help Golden Boy. Malik left them to it. The Assassin was the real threat. He rode over to the centre of the arena.

Malik wheeled his horse round and was close enough to look at him properly for the first time, even though most of his face was shaded by the white hood. He was pale with dead eyes that showed nothing. A memory stirred deep down in Malik’s brain. There was something familiar about him.

Was it just that he looked so much like the Assassin’s Creed killer, or was it something else?

Where did Malik know him from? Think.

Ed didn’t know what to think. His plans had been to try to win the races for Ascot and choose his prize. But Kyle had had to retire from the first gladiator event after Josa had attacked him. So there had been no points there. As far as he could tell, Ascot was just behind Windsor in the scoring. Whichever of the two teams won this event would be the outright winner. At the moment, however, he was rooting for the young sicko on the horse. The guy was going to be killed. There was no way of escaping from the arena alive.

Not for a sicko.

He was brave, though, and he’d won over half the crowd. He sat there on the white horse in the centre of the arena, unarmed, daring the king’s bodyguard to come for him.

And the Ascot boy was carrying a hefty sword. A great cleaver. He walked his horse towards the sicko, an unreadable expression on his face. If he killed him now Ascot would have surely won.

Ed saw a movement in the crowd. Sophie and her archers were getting ready behind the barriers with their bows. Arno shouted a command and a few of them loosed arrows point-blank at the last of the other sickos.

That just left the young guy on the horse and Sophie’s archers were all now aiming at him. Just to make sure there could be no mistakes, a small group of kids armed with swords and clubs climbed over the barrier and formed up behind the king’s bodyguard.

They were taking no chances.