“I agree. I think it would be best if David returns the sword before we reward him for his valour and escort him and his friends out of Avalon. I imagine they are all anxious to get home.”

“Don’t be foolish,” said the Queen, rejecting Jamison’s twisting of her command. “The humans cannot possibly be permitted to leave.”

Chelsea made a small noise in her throat; Tamani reached out and grabbed her hand reassuringly.

“You know as well as I that the rule is not absolute.”

“He has wielded the sword, Jamison.”

“Just because it was done before does not mean it has to be done now. The circumstances were very different,” Jamison said, his voice calm.

“I don’t see how.”

“Arthur had nothing to go back to. His life and kingdom were destroyed. This boy has a future ahead of him. I will not be part of trapping him here.”

“What do you mean, trapping me here?” David said.

Jamison looked up at David. “King Arthur never left Avalon. Ever. And it may not have been entirely of his own volition.”

“An unbeatable sword is too great a secret,” the Queen said, her tone patronising, but tinged with pity. “Surely you understand that.”

“I can keep a secret,” said David. “I’m real good at secrets.”

“Not like this.”

“I’ve kept Laurel’s true nature a secret for over two years now. Not to mention the location of the gate.”

The Queen didn’t look impressed. “That makes two things that should have been wiped from your memory, if Laurel d’Avalon’s Fear-gleidhidh had been doing his duty. Please do not think us ungrateful. It is a matter of expedience. The leaders of your world – human or otherwise – would slaughter a great many to obtain this weapon.”

“I know that.”

“Then you understand that it is for your own safety that you remain here.”

“I have a family. Chelsea too. We won’t leave them.”

“It is not your choice,” the Queen said sternly. “We aren’t monsters; you will be well cared for. But you cannot leave.”

“It isn’t your choice,” David countered, before anyone else could speak up. “You can’t keep me here.”

The Queen’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t see why not.”

“I have Excalibur.”

“And you can carry it round Avalon till you die, for all I care,” she said, her tone declaring an end to this conversation.

“What do you want to bet this sword would cut through the bars of those gates?” David said, his voice quiet, but piercing.

Laurel’s breath caught in her throat; surely David didn’t intend to destroy Avalon’s most important defence – did he?

“Arthur never cut the gates,” the Queen retorted, but there was uncertainty in her eyes.

“Maybe he didn’t really want to leave.”

“Perhaps not,” Marion replied. “Or perhaps he realised the danger such rash action would pose to Avalon. Perhaps he was too noble for that.”

David responded with a glare, which Queen Marion returned, measure for measure.

“I will not assist you in trapping them,” Jamison said, interrupting their power struggle. “If they ask me to open the gate for them, I will.”

“Then you will be executed for treason,” Marion said without hesitation. “We may be one Council, but I am still the Queen.”

“No!” Yasmine shouted, clutching Jamison’s arm, her young voice sounding strangely out of place in the midst of this particular conversation.

“Yasmine, the same fate for you,” Marion said, not meeting her eyes.

“That’s not fair!” Chelsea said, rising to her feet, her fists clenched. “She hasn’t done anything.”

“The choice belongs to the human,” Marion said, staring steadfastly at David. “It would be a shame if, after all the work you’ve done, you decided to expose Avalon to even greater danger.”

David was silent and still, his knuckles white on the hilt of the sword. Could he really cut down the gate? Would he?

David spun on his heel and presented the Queen with his back. Wordlessly he jumped the trench and stood looking at the bodies surrounding him. Klea, Yuki, Klea’s mindless warriors, the still-blackened grass that filled the circle. Then he turned and, making eye contact with the Queen, thrust the sword into the earth, almost to the hilt.

But he didn’t let go.

He just crouched, glaring at Marion for nearly a minute. Everything else was silent.

Then he released his hold on the sword, one finger at a time, until his arm fell and he stood and walked away.

When he reached them, David wrapped his arms round Chelsea and buried his face in her neck, his whole body shaking. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so, so sorry. After everything they’ve been through, I can’t . . . I’m so sorry.”

“I know,” Chelsea said, holding him close. She squeezed her eyes shut and her voice quavered as she spoke. “You did the right thing. And hey, there are worse places to live, right?”

Laurel threw her arms round both of them; behind her, Tamani struggled to his feet and joined them, his weight leaning heavy on her shoulder. “Guys, I can—” he started to whisper.

“I will not stand by and let this happen.”

They all turned to see Jamison on his feet, Yasmine tucked under his arm, bearing him up. “I will open the gate for them. And then I will accept my punishment.”