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What is the secret that marks her?

Ten years ago, Alaric, leader of the Shadowmen, killed many of the Keepers - the teachers and bearers of ancient knowledge threatening his barbaric rule. Now rebellion is flaring up in the Archipelago again and the Shadowmen are out hunting for Keepers once more.

Fourteen-year-old Nyssa, and her uncle, Marius, descendants of the Keepers, must flee, but there is a greater reason that Nyssa is in danger: on her skull is one half of a strange tattoo, three lines of writing in a strange unintelligible script, the Legend of the Keepers. Her search for the other half of the script begins, leading her down a dangerous path from which she may never return.

‘The Shadowmen are coming for you, Nyssa.’

There was silence for a few heartbeats. ‘For us you mean,’ she said.

‘What?’

‘You said they’re coming for me. You mean for us.’

She saw William and Marius exchange a look she didn’t understand.

‘Of course,’ said William, not meeting her eyes.

‘Why did you never tell me this before?’

‘I wanted to protect you. I thought maybe they would never track you – us – down and you could live here in peace. I didn’t want you to be frightened for no reason.’

‘So what now? We abandon the Drowned Boy and run – where?’

There was a silence so thick you could have sliced it.

‘What? What else?’

‘I’m not going Nyssa,’ said William. ‘They don’t know about me. If they find you or Marius they’ll know you by the tattoos, but mine is disguised. Marius will look after you and I can send them the wrong way if I stay here.’

‘I’m not going with him. He’s practically a stranger.’

‘He’s your uncle.’ At last Nyssa was shocked into silence. She sat down on a table and put her head in her hands. I’ll never complain about the other dreams again, she thought, if I can just wake up from this one now.

William tried again, struggling to keep his voice calm, so that she wouldn’t realise how frightened he was for her. ‘Nyssa, you know how dear you are to me. You’re in terrible danger; I’m not. If they find you, they’ll surely kill you. Marius can take you to safety; I can’t. You must go with him. Please go and pack. I’ll get some food together for the pair of you.’

He turned and went into the kitchen, and came back a moment later with the canvas bags. Numbly she took them from him, went up to her room and began to pull things out of her clothes chest and stuff them in the bags. She didn’t know what else to do.

When she’d finished she tucked the little wooden box that contained her few personal belongings and the tiny cache of money in among the clothes. A few tears dropped onto the bags then. Her mind was a blank, but somewhere she knew that if she was taking the box she was admitting that this was real and not a dream at all. She went back downstairs and into the kitchen. William and Marius stopped talking as she came into the room. There was an uncomfortable silence.

‘What now?’ she asked into it. William cleared his throat.

‘I’ll open up as usual. You stay out of sight through here. As soon as it’s dark the two of you will leave; but you must be ready as soon as we open, in case one of the scouts comes in.’