Sam stared at the group in front of them, his heart thudding in his mouth and the image of Bean Nighe’s hands on lion surcoats in his mind. He had no way of knowing whose it was – no way of knowing who was doomed.

Lefrich was still staring at him, looking serious now. Looking like he needed to know – as if he was scared about what would happen if he didn’t. Sam could understand. He was in charge of these men. He was in charge of leading them into blatant danger and some of them might not make it back.

“She said.” Sam swallowed. “She said to protect everyone regardless of what she says.”

He forced himself to make eye contact, holding Lefrich’s icy gaze even though he could feel waves of anger coming from the Prince. His eyes narrowed at Sam.

“It was so ridiculous to get you to help,” Lefrich spat. “You had one job – one important job because it gave us useful information – and you butchered it!”

“I didn’t see you volunteering to go!” He could feel his own anger now – red hot in his stomach. “If you wanted your answers – you should have gone yourself!”

Elexander gave a low whistle.

“Shut up, Ecky!” the boys either side of him yelled. It sounded as though they were two Sam’s and he didn’t like it. He didn’t want to sound like the Prince.

They had caught up with the other knights now. Lefrich swung off of his horse, barking brisk orders, even though he was a head shorter than all of them. He still helped them to pack up, tying bags and packs to horses. Elexander helped too, so Sam followed suit. He helped a woman who had the same hair as Beatrice pack up her collection of daggers. She had named each one and Sam tried to find that endearing rather than unsettling. Then he helped a man with a long, dark plait pack up all of the crockery. It was in a terrible state and a part of him was itching to get his hands on it.

Then they were on the road again, and Sam was still tied to Elexander. As Lefrich’s personal guard, he had to ride to his right hand side and, as Lefrich was the Prince, he had to lead the procession. Sam could feel everyone’s eyes on him, making the hair on the back of his neck prickle. He tried to ignore it, he was still bubbling with anger.

They rode in silence through the rest of the wood. It had opened up onto green plains stretching onto the horizon. The weeds were almost at the horse’s knees, but Sam could see corn growing in the distance. He fantasized about how much easier his life would be if he had been a farmer. It would have been cheaper too, to have his own apple orchard.

“Look, mistakes were made,” Elexander finally said, looking between the both of them. “I didn’t even know that about Bean Nighe-“

“You’re not an alchemist! An alchemist would know about these sort of things!”

That made Sam want to shrivel up. Of course he was an alchemist. He could feel the heat rising to his face as he opened his mouth to say it.

“What were you expecting, anyway? We all wear the same stuff. It would only be an issue if Sam saw his or yours’ clothes.” Elexander continued as though Lefrich hadn’t interrupted him. He glanced across at Sam and shook his head the slightest amount. It made Sam’s mouth snap shut.

For a moment, it looked as though Lefrich was sucking on a lemon. He stared ahead of them with a thunderous gaze.

He didn’t even look at Sam as he said, “You did okay, I guess.”

“Thanks,” Sam muttered. Despite his hatred of the Prince, it helped. It made him feel as though it wasn’t all a complete failure.

They rode on, with the knights following behind them. They called to each other, but Sam couldn’t understand the jokes. He got bored quickly. The horizon seemed to move slowly and the fields were the same. Landmarks like scarecrows, fields of cows and windmills weren’t as much of a commodity as Sam thought they were. Even they lost their appeal. And the sun inched across the sky as slowly as they inched across the fields.

His mind wandered to the alchemic materials in his pack, which had been tucked inside his saddlebag. He was desperate to open Coursi’s journal – to learn more and to get a peak inside that mind. His fingertips almost itched at the longing.

Then, as the sun almost blinded him when they changed direction slightly, Sam realised that he could. He was hardly controlling his own horse – Elexander was doing all of the work for him.

So Sam kept one hand on the reins and fished the book out of the saddle bag. He propped it open against the donkey’s mane and begun to read.

*

It was getting harder than usual to make out Coursi’s spirally handwriting by the time Lefrich called for the knights to stop. Sam blinked rapidly and looked up. It was because it was dark – the sun was well on it’s way to setting and everything was dusted with amber light.

They had stopped at a river bank, the water roaring as if it was trying to imitate the sea. It hissed and spat its way over huge rocks that seemed to be trying their best to block its path. Every so often, the rocks would leave a gaping hole that moss crept everything. It made spirals over the large boulders.

“Good book?” Elexander chuckled as he got down from his horse. There were a few sparse trees to tie the horses down to, but they seemed so well-behaved Sam doubted if they would run. “I’ve never seen someone ride and read at the same time.”

“Because most people need to use the reins,” Sam replied.

He was startled when Lefrich laughed. The Prince turned to him, looking lordly on the white mare. “If you’re useless at riding, you might as well do something you are good at instead.”

“Hey, Sam, help me with the campfire,” Elexander said. They were all smiling and it made Sam’s heart feel warm. He hadn’t had this, not for a long time. He couldn’t remember the last time he sat and laughed with people his own age. And he had missed it. He liked it. So he nodded, finding himself eager to oblige.

He looked around him as he led the donkey to one of the trees. There were a few withering trees and some brambles sat on the top of the hill in front of them. Behind them, thick forests scattered hills like a rash.

“I don’t remember going through any of that,” Sam muttered.

“You were completely absorbed in that thing,” Elexander replied, picking up a few particularly large sticks. Sam helped, though he wasn’t quite sure if he was picking the right kind. Coursi normally chopped the firewood.

“So – we’re headed to Tarville?” Sam asked, as they headed back, both with their arms piled high with wood.

“Yeah, eventually,” Elexander said. He looked at Sam, as though deciding how much he should tell him, then continued. “We’re heading to Fort Parandell first – it’s right on the border. Leffy has cousins there, so his mum, the queen, insisted he visit on the way.”

Sam nodded, unsure of what to say.

“He’s doing this for her, you know,” Elexander continued, his voice dropping. “He hates faes as much as anyone else.”

“What was that, Ecky?” Lefrich had appeared in front of them, his arms crossed. “You two gabber like two old women. Get the fire started.”

“Of course, your highness,” Elexander said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Sam followed, his stomach in knots at being caught out talking about him.

Elexander was very casual when it came to making a fire. He just began to pile up the sticks in the middle of where everyone had crowded around. When Sam pointed out that it was dangerous and the grass under it could catch, he just shrugged and continued.

Sam lit it with his matches and the men cheered as the flame began to lick the sky.

They were all much larger than him – than even Elexander. They were loud and imposing and intimidating, so Sam stuck to sitting by Lefrich. They were given curious glances – obviously wondering who he was, but too interested in a new gambling game they had created to question him.

Elexander had laid down on the ground next to them, his hands behind his head, with his eyes were closed. Sam didn’t think he was asleep, but he couldn’t be sure.

Directly to his left, Lefrich was sat, his eyes on the fire. The light flickered off of his face, making his cheekbones stand out dramatically. With his jaw set and his eyes narrowed, he looked terrifying. Sam couldn’t figure out what to say. His mind groped around at possible conversation starters – but he didn’t know the first thing about him.

“Um, earlier, Elexander said-“ Sam began slowly.

“I know what Ecky said,” the Prince snapped. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “My mother just had a child.”

Sam was silent. He wasn’t sure what Lefrich’s point was.

“She’s terrified that it will be a changeling. That they¬-“ he spat the word out. “Will infest the palace. Our royal family. That’s why I chose to do this. I want her to rest easy.”

“Yeah, I can understand that,” Sam replied. He rested his head on his knees, watching the flames. They reminded him of the flames at home – at his own mother’s fireplace.

“Lefrich was silent for a long moment. He rested an elbow on his knee, his face unreadable.

“it must be-“ For once, the Prince looked slightly bashful. As though he wasn’t sure what to say either. “Hard for you. To leave home so quickly.”

“It was weird. I never expected to leave – never looked beyond Pondcombe before. Now I’m heading all the way to Tarville. In Alpin.”

“It’s a nice country. Riddled with faes – even more than here, but it’s nice. Very green. Very peaceful in the day.”

The fire crackled, sending sparks that looked like fireflies through the dusk. They looked at each other, studying for any other sign of resemblance. Something else they both had in common. The shadows didn’t look so harsh on his pale skin now. In fact, he looked like he was glowing.

Then he smirked and turned back into the arrogant boy that Sam had gotten to know.

“It really is like looking in a mirror,” he said. He smoothed Sam’s hair to the side, so that it sat like his did. Sam smiled back, feeling like was more reflection than person. It was true. The firelight had turned Lefrich’s pale hair the same shade as Sam’s. It was just a little mud splattered on Sam’s cheeks that made them look different.

Lefrich and Elexander found it amusing, though, Sam felt a twinge in his stomach. Bean Nighe’s question came back to him. About fate. If the stars really were governing them, then what did this coincidence mean? Nothing good, that was for sure.

He was pulled out of the morbid thought by someone ruffling his hair from behind. Lefrich’s was similarly ruffled, but he pushed the hand away.

“So what’s this young pup doing with us, your highness?” a knight asked. Sam turned to see a young man of barely twenty standing behind them. His hair was cut short, and stuck up like a shorn sheep’s. His facial hair was similarly shorn off, growing in a few stray strands around his chin.

“Samuel is our alchemist for the journey,” Lefrich replied coolly, smoothing his hair back into place.

“Is that so?” The knight smiled. “Are you protecting your true identity with alchemy?”

“What?” Sam bite back a laugh.

“So what – you’re telling me that you naturally look just like Prince Lefrich?”

“Well, alchemy doesn’t work like that.”

“But its fae’s magic,” the knight with the dark plait said, turning from warming his hands by the fire.

Sam scowled.

“Just because they came from the same place, doesn’t mean they’re the same now.”

He was greeted by a chorus of “oooohs” and “he told you, Jeroff.” He rolled his eyes, catching Lefrich’s gaze. He raised an eyebrow ever so slightly.

“I thought that having an alchemist on a quest was an old tradition,” the knight with hair the same colour as Beatrice’s, said.

“I thought it was fitting to return to the old customs, given the nature of our quest,” Lefrich replied. It was as though he was trying to regain his dignity. Sam couldn’t figure out if they respected him, or they were mocking him.

“Anyway, anyway – you should show us a trick,” the man with the spiky hair said. Nudging Sam’s shoulder.

“Uh,” he paused. But Lefrich was watching him intently, so he nodded, “sure.”

The knights grinned at each other, gathering around Sam like small children. He drew his alchemy board out of his bag, his mind skipping back through the chapters he had read on the way here. He had never tried any of it before. But he had done it once.

He headed over the pile of leftover sticks, slipping his alchemy board under him and feeling eyes boring into him from every direction. He herded the twigs to one section of the board – under the sign Gemini, then pulled the base materials from their pouches and scattered them. He spun the board carefully, so that Mercury was in alignment with Gemini.

Sam clenched his hands to stop them from shaking. Mercury was a difficult planet to get control of, but it ruled over Gemini, so he had to use it. It was a simple transformation, he told himself. Very simple.

Gemini’s element was air, so he leant down to the twigs and blew softly on them, repeating the prayer he had heard Coursi say infinite times. To anyone who was listening. Then he splashed water from the river onto the pile, squeezed his eyes tight and hoped for the best.

There was a round of applause from around the fire a few moments later.

Sam found himself sat in front of a rickety wooden house made of the leftover sticks. It was just the frame, and only big enough for a child, but he had done it. He forced himself to breathe out normally, daring himself to smile.

That was when it fell, collapsing in a pile on the grass.

There was a silence and Sam glanced around, shrivelling up as he met everyone’s gazes. Lefrich wasn’t looking at him, and he could bet that he had rolled his eyes.

“It was a good effort, Sammy,” Elexander said, but he wasn’t looking Sam in the eyes.

“Please don’t call me Sammy.”

“Well, I mean, it held for a moment,” the knight with spiky hair shrugged.

“I swear I could do it earlier,” Sam muttered.

“Hey, you’re probably tired,” the knight with the plait, Jeroff, Sam guessed, said.

They were all being so kind, but it didn’t ease the sinking feeling in Sam’s stomach. He had failed. How was he supposed to live up to Lefrich’s expectations when he couldn’t do something as simple as that?

They must have seen something on his face, because Jeroff patted Sam on the shoulder.

“Come on, kid, sit with us,” he said. “Sure you’ll get it if you keep practising.”

Sam nodded. Suddenly it was hard to speak. He just let himself be guided over to the campfire. Elexander was still looking at him with soft eyes. Almost pitying eyes.

“I’m Anselm by the way,” the knight with spiky hair said. He sat Sam down between him and Jeroff. They tried to talk to him about his home, but he just shrugged. They eventually gave up, talking over his head about training and knight’s gossip.

He didn’t even realise his eyes were drooping until his head fell against Jeroff’s shoulder.

And even then, he was too tired to rouse himself.