Instantly she was grasped. Not violently but gently. It was Richard, ‘Stay down’ He commanded. He forced Jaspar to the ground. His strong arms grasped Jaspar’s waist and forced her to huddle behind him.
‘Jasmine? Who do you need protection from? What did you see?’
Jaspar peered around Richards body. She saw Duke Henry with an alarmed look on his face. She looked further and saw Beckhom and Joachin unharmed looking around the crowd. The witch was out of her chair, also looking around for a source of threat.
With a feeling of disappointment but also, perhaps selfishly, of relief, Jaspar realised the amulet had done nothing. Nobody had been changed into a baby.
‘Lady Jasmine! What did you see? Where is the threat?’ Richard was in her face imploring her to answer.
Jaspar immediately realised she had disrupted the ceremony, she scrambled for an explanation. ‘A man with a crossbow. On the roof over there’ she pointed at a random roof.
All eyes turned to where she had pointed. To her surprise a man was on the roof. He flung down a crossbow and fled across the roof tops out of sight. A great commotion broke loose. Commands were shouted. Amid the confusion Jaspar once more fastened the locket around Anya’s amulet. Why had it not worked?