In the two days leading up to the tournament, they were so busy they almost didn't have the time to think about the mystery involving Donegan and Mirena. Lady Porwena endlessly assigned every group tasks: hanging bunting, preparing the bandstand, raising marquees in the gardens. Rodrigo had never imagined a celebration would involve so much work. In addition, the short periods of free time they had were used to train for the tournament's challenges.

'Good job, guys,' said Corentin as they finished their last training session. 'You've all done fantastically well. You too, Noa. You've improved a lot.'

It was true that Noa had really improved. Ever since she knew the green team were going to look ridiculous thanks to Mirena's potion she had been much more relaxed and confident.

When the day of the celebration finally dawned, the sunshine filtering through the cracks in the large gates seemed to notify them all that spring had finally arrived. Every squire excitedly got out of bed and hurried to breakfast more quickly than usual. The dining hall was filled with colourful pennants and the tables were covered with bright tablecloths. All of the knights were wearing their uniform: a red tunic with a golden dragon sewn on the chest. Today it appeared as though they were going to have breakfast in the dining hall with the children as they had their own table prepared at the end of the room. Rodrigo and his friends headed to the kitchen to begin serving breakfast but as soon as they entered the room, their mouths started watering. It wasn't a breakfast like those before. There were peaches in syrup, strawberries with cream, cream pie and much more.

'Where's Noa?' Rodrigo asked, confused she wasn't among them. Noa wasn't the kind of person to shirk her chores.

'No idea,' Vega replied. 'Her bed was empty when we woke up this morning.'

'I hope she appears soon because we've got more work than ever today,' said Darion. 'This breakfast has at least five courses!'

When they grabbed the food trolleys and appeared with them in the dining hall, many people broke into applause when they saw the delicious banquet that lay ahead. Rodrigo was eager to finish quickly so he could also enjoy breakfast, but everyone wanted to try everything and their task of serving was slower than ever.

'Hey, you lot!' Kyle shouted. 'Do you want to hurry up? We want to try the cake as well before it's ruined.'

Rodrigo was about to answer him but there was no need. Lady Porwena had approached Kyle and given him a good ear-bashing. It didn't seem to have done much though because when Vega went over to their table to set out glasses, everyone on the table rudely began to tell her off.

'Hey, servant. You can bring me another glass,' said one. 'And do me a favour and don't dirty it with your filthy fingers.'

'And be quick about it,' said another. 'We haven't got all day.'

'Don't bother, Vega,' said Lady Porwena. 'You and your friends can sit down. This gang of rude brats are going to substitute you all. Let's see if that takes them down a peg or two.'

Kyle and his friends began to grumble and protest but as soon as they took control of the food trolleys, Rodrigo could make out small smiles of triumph on their faces.

'They did it on purpose,' he said when all of his friends had sat down at their table. 'This is exactly what they wanted. Now they're the ones serving breakfast so they can pour the rumularia into the glasses of the other members of the green team.'

'I have to say, it's a great plan,' Darion laughed. 'I almost feel sorry for them. For once, they think of something smart but it's going to go so bad for them.'

The five of them tried to stifle their laughter and began eating their breakfast. Everything was as good as it looked, or even better. It was turning out to be a perfect, or almost perfect, day. The only thing that worried them was Noa's absence.

'She must be hiding so she doesn't have to get involved in the tournament,' said Oliver.

'That would be a shame,' said Aisha. 'Lately, she's been doing well in our training sessions. She was starting to believe in herself.'

'Yeah, but she must have had a last-minute panic,' Rodrigo said. 'I think we should go and look for her as soon as we've finished breakfast.'

'Look where?' Oliver asked.

'Where do you think she'll be?' Aisha questioned. 'Where do you think Noa would go in a moment of distress?'

'Oh, right,' Oliver replied. 'The infirmary.'

'Precisely.'

Half an hour later, when only a few people were still able to keep eating, Balkar rose to his feet and headed for the centre of the room. A few seconds later, silence fell upon the dining hall like a blanket.

'Good morning and happy spring, my friends. First of all, I would like to ask for a round of applause for our cooks who have prepared this wonderful breakfast for us. I am sure they will also have a delightful lunch and a dinner worthy of kings prepared for us. They deserve our unreserved recognition and thanks.'

Every squire and knight present in the dining room clapped. Shouts of 'hurrah' and 'bravo' could also be heard. Then the grand master raised his hand and everyone fell silent once more.

'In thirty minutes, the tournament will begin in the gardens of the south wall. I remind you there will be different events for each age group, through which you will win points for the final ranking. I would also like to remind you that any attempt to cheat or play dirty will result in a deduction of five points for your team. This includes using any of your powers in events.

'As you leave the dining hall, Sir Aldair will provide you with a cloak in the colour of your team. You must wear this cloak until the end of the tournament. That is all I have to say. Good luck and may the best team win.'

The south wall gardens were already prepared when the children began leaving the castle. In every direction they could see things set out for the different events: targets, fences, bags hanging from trees, tree trunks, hoops, ropes. Everyone was looking at what surrounded them, trying to imagine what they would need to do, especially the younger squires.

'Come on,' Darion hurried them along when he saw them standing there like idiots. 'We need to find Noa. The tournament starts in less than half an hour.'

As they tore their gaze from the celebration's preparations with great difficulty, the five of them followed the path to the infirmary tower. When they climbed the stairs they found the door open. The red mane of Noa stood out from behind a pile of books stacked on the desk. She was so absorbed in reading that she didn't even see them enter the room.

'Hi, Noa,' Aisha said. 'What are you doing?'

She jumped and looked at them, quickly recovering from her fright.

'I have to make a potion but I can't even remember what it's called,' she answered. 'I hope I can find it in one of these books and remember it.'

'What's the potion for?' Vega asked.

'It's for Adara,' Noa explained. 'I think she's about to wake up. She's starting to move and mutter in her sleep. Mirena said as soon as Adara wakes up, the first thing she'd have to do is drink this potion, but I can't remember its name.'

'You still trust what that crazy old lady said?' Oliver asked, horrified.

'Isn't Adara alive and about to wake up?' Noa asked. 'The only thing I've done is continue with the treatment Mirena started using.'

'Even still, I would really think about it before following the instructions of a traitor who enjoys poisoning people,' Oliver insisted.

'Maybe she's not a traitor,' Rodrigo pointed out. 'Remember what we talked about the other day.'

'Well, it doesn't matter,' Noa sighed. 'I don't think I can remember the potion.'

'So you're not coming to the tournament?' Darion asked.

'No. I have to stay here. Anyway, I'm sure you've got a better chance of winning without me.'

'Don't say that!' Aisha protested. 'You've been doing really well recently.'

'Really well? You mean I've not been doing as badly as before, that's all. Medicine is my area. When they host a tournament for curing people, I'll be glad to take part.'

With that, Noa closed the book she had in her hands and selected another from the mountain on the desk.

'Good luck, guys,' she said, opening the book at the first page.

Everyone except Oliver wished her luck as well then they left the infirmary and began to descend the steep stairs of the tower.

'Do you really think she's right to be looking for the potion Mirena suggested?' Oliver asked on their way down.

'I think so,' Aisha said. 'Having said that, it's still a shame she's missing out on the chance to show herself she's better than she thinks. I really think she was ready to play a great role in the tournament.'

When they finally reached the gardens, all of the squires and knights were there with their smart red and gold tunics. Balkar was about to announce the start of the tournament when they neared him to tell him about Noa's absence and what she was looking for.

'A potion Mirena mentioned?' the grand master repeated worriedly. 'Well, I suppose if Mirena had wanted to kill Adara, she would have done so long before now. The only thing we can do is trust Noa's intuition. She is the only person who can help Lady Adara.'

'What should we do?' Darion asked.

'You have one participant less,' Balkar replied. 'You will need make an extra effort to win.'

Indicating that their conversation had ended, Balkar announced the start of the tournament and explained the first event: sword fighting between senior squires. Then he withdrew two balls from a bag to see which teams would face each other first. They were green and yellow. Balkar ordered the participants of each of the teams to line up in front of each other such that each person was facing their opponent. Then Sir Aldair and Lady Porwena provided them with a series of padded protective equipment and wooden swords.

'When you hear the horn sound, the duel shall begin,' said Balkar, 'and it will continue until one of you manages to disarm the other, or until five minutes have passed. Each pair of opponents will be monitored by a knight who will be the judge and count points. I warn you that at no time may you aim your sword at the head of your opponent. If anyone should do so, their entire team will immediately be disqualified from this event.'

The grand master sounded his horn and the senior squires of the green and yellow teams began to fight. However, those on the green team were moving with such clumsiness they could barely lift their swords.

'What's going on?' Kyle shouted. 'You're much stronger than them!'

But Kyle's shouts didn't help at all. In less than a minute, all of the green team's participants had been disarmed and defeated by the yellow team.

'Well, it would seem that the green team's players have eaten too much at breakfast,' said Balkar. 'Six points for the yellow team!'

Sir Aldair walked over to an enormous scoreboard and scrawled the number six in the yellow column. All of the other colours continued at zero.

'Let's see who will be our next teams,' said Balkar, withdrawing another two balls from the bag. 'The red team and the orange team!'

'Come on, champs,' said Oliver, encouraging their senior teammates. 'Show them how a sword should be used.'

The fight between these two teams was more even than before. Corentin took a little more than two minutes to disarm his adversary, who ended up flat on the floor as his sword flew towards the spectators. Shortly after, Nayara, a girl in their team, was disarmed by her opponent who was a small, brown-haired girl who moved faster than the wings of a hummingbird. All of the other duelling pairs lasted the full five minutes so they had to wait for points to be totalled before knowing who had emerged victorious: four points were awarded to the red team and two to the orange team. Oliver and Darion jumped up as though they'd won the trophy already.

'You were great,' said Oliver when they were reunited with their teammates. He looked at Corentin and said, 'That was amazing how you used that guy's own attack to make him fall. And Nayara, I'm sure that little girl was cheating, you can barely see her, she moves so fast.'

Aldair wrote their points on the scoreboard and Balkar announced the third fight: the blue team against the white team. Once again, the senior members of each team faced up to each other and began to fight with their wooden swords. Nobody managed to disarm their opponent and the final points tally resulted in a draw: three points apiece. After the points were noted on the scoreboard, Balkar announced the next event: the obstacle course.

'Can you see that row of sandbags handing from the trees?' the grand master asked. 'The participants of one team will try to reach the other side by dodging them while those of another team will try to swing the bags to catch the participants. You shall all participate in this event. You will win one point for every participant who reaches the other side without being touched by a sandbag. Let's see which teams will be up first. The red team and the green team!'

The participants of the two teams got into position, with the red team being the ones who would first have to dodge the sandbags while the green team would try to hit them. Balkar sounded his horn and Rodrigo and his teammates, one by one, managed to reach the other side with minimum effort as the sandbags were barely moving.

'Is something wrong?' Balkar asked the green team. 'Are you alright?'

'I think something in our breakfast has made us feel unwell,' one of them replied. 'We barely have enough strength to stand up.'

'In that case, you should retire from the tournament and rest,' Balkar responded. 'I do not believe any of you are in a fit condition to continue.'

The green team members begin to leave, heads bowed. When they passed Rodrigo and his friends, Kyle shot them a look of hate and confusion. He still had no idea how his wonderful plan had failed. Then Oliver began to sing softly, 'Rumularia, what an amazing potion, it's made me as strong as the ocean.' Kyle couldn't contain himself any longer and began shouting.

'They're cheats! They took a potion that gives them incredible strength. It's called rumularia. I heard them planning it.'

'Ah, I think I understand it now,' said Balkar, stroking his beard. 'You heard them and you thought you would steal their idea, am I correct? You stole the rumularia from the infirmary and you gave it to all the members of your team. Is that correct, Kyle?'

'Not at all! You saw us. We're weaker than ever.'

'I can see that, Kyle, and that makes me think I am right, given that the real effects of rumularia are physical discomfort and a loss of strength. If the red team had taken any rumularia, they would be they weak ones, not you and your team.'

One of the members of the green team turned and grabbed Kyle by the neck of his vest. He seemed furious.

'That was your fool proof plan to win the tournament, eh? You're a cheat and a coward! We didn't need a potion to win, we're not all as weak as you.'

'You'll pay for this, Kyle!' said another girl on his team.

One by one, all of the members of the green team showed their disgust for Kyle and turned their back on him until he was left with only his usual group. Then, among the jeering, they too left, faces red with anger.

'We should repeat the sandbag event,' said Balkar when the green team had disappeared. 'Now, the red team shall face the yellow team!'

This time, the trial was incredibly difficult. The sandbags continued to swing with force and as soon as they dodged one, another was on the verge of hitting them. At the end, only Aisha, Corentin and Nayara managed to pass the test, meaning they won three points. The yellow team were awarded four, then the white team took on the blue team, achieving five and three points respectively. As the orange team were left without an opponent, Balkar removed another ball to see who would move the sandbags for them and the red team were chosen. As their arms were already tired from the previous round, they couldn't stop the orange team from winning six points.

The next event was archery, which was what they had spent the most time practising with Corentin and the rest of their team. This trial was reserved for the younger members of each group. Aisha, Darion and three others managed to hit the bull's eye, which was worth two points. Thanks to them, they moved into first position.

The event that followed was the most spectacular. The seniors had to ride on horses and, in addition to dodging numerous obstacles, they had to claim a bow and arrow from high up in a tree, standing on the animal's hindquarters. Then they had to hit the bull's eye without halting the horse. It was so difficult that many of them fell trying to grab the bow and arrow. Only three of them managed to hit the bull's eye. One of them was Nayara, who won them another five points.

The next trial was for the younger squires and consisted of a duel on a tree trunk. Each participant was armed with a shield and a small lance with a large cloth ball on its end. They had to use this to make their opponent fall from the trunk. They only managed two points in this event but they were still in the lead.

The following event was for the seniors again. They had to scale a smooth tree trunk fifteen metres tall and grab a feather from its highest point. This time, only Corentin and another girl named Aroa managed to complete the task, meaning the red team fell behind to second in the overall rankings.

'There's just one event left,' Corentin said. 'We have to come first!'

Everyone listened attentively and nervously to the grand master's explanation of the tournament's final event. This time, the whole team had to participate together. The young squires would have to cross an obstacle course to collect arrows (one at a time) and give them to the squires who were fifteen and sixteen years old. They would then have to cross a revolving tree trunk to pass them to the older squires who were charged with hitting the target with a bull's eye.

Rodrigo used all the energy he had left to collect the greatest number of arrows possible, and with the exhaustion on the faces of his teammates it was clear they were also using every last ounce of their strength. As soon as Balkar's horn indicated the end of the event, they all ran to the targets to see their results. In total, eleven of the red team's arrows had reached the bull's eye. They were extremely happy with their results until they saw the targets of the white team. Although they had only managed ten bull's eyes, it was enough to keep them in first place, meaning they had won the tournament.

'Excellent, my friends,' said Balkar. 'You have all demonstrated great skill and the ability to improve. The white team is in the lead by one point, followed by the red team, but the tournament has not yet finished. This year, we have a surprise. The knights also wish to participate and we will do so with one of our favourite activities: jousting. In order to avoid showing favouritism, we will each draw a ball to decide the team in which we shall participate. Sir Aldair, please take a ball from the bag.'

The brown-haired knight withdrew the yellow ball and all of the members of that team applauded. Then it was Toravik's turn, and he pulled out a red ball. Rodrigo and his friends clapped and jumped for joy. Nobody could be stronger than the long-bearded smith.

After the other knights had withdrawn their ball, Balkar explained how the jousts would work. Two knights would face each other on horseback, riding against each other and trying to throw their opponent with a long, wooden lance. The loser of each encounter would be eliminated until only one remained and that person would win five points for their team.

'Let's see who will be first up,' said Balkar, pulling two balls from the bag. 'The red team shall face the orange team. In other words, Toravik against me.'

'Come on, Toravik!' Oliver shouted. 'This will be a piece of cake for you.'

'Maybe, but I don't want to dent Balkar's armour,' the smith replied. 'I took a month to get it as shiny as it is now.'

Oliver's expression changed to one that looked as though a bucket of cold water had been thrown over him.

'No way!' he said. 'Imagine it's a varblin inside that armour. Would you be afraid to dent it then?'

'If a varblin was inside it I wouldn't dent it, I'd crush it. I'd leave it like a bowl of copper after it's tumbled down a cliff. It would look like a stampede of buffalos had run over it. But it's not–'

'There are no "buts" about it, Toravik! I want you to think he's a varblin. Imagine it's the varblin that shot that arrow at Adara.'

Oliver's comment seemed to have hit the mark because Toravik's eyes turned red with rage.

'Damn, filthy pond leech!' roared Toravik, hastily climbing onto his horse. 'I'm going to make him swallow as many lances as the number of days Adara has spent unconscious! That rat will wish he'd never crossed my path!'

A minute later, the horn sounded and Toravik and Balkar charged towards one another, aiming their lances at each other's chests. A loud crack sounded just as a blur of wood splinters flew through the air. Balkar was on the ground, struggling to stand up.

'Hey,' Rodrigo said to Oliver. 'Don't you think you encouraged him a little bit too much?'

'Don't worry. That's what armour's for.'

When the grand master finally picked himself up from the ground, he shook Toravik's hand and announced the next opponent: Sir Garek.

'Great work, Toravik!' Oliver said as soon as the smith returned with his horse. 'You taught him a lesson. Adara would have loved to have been here to see that. It's a pity she's unconscious. Those varblins that attacked her–'

'Don't you mention those godforsaken dung worms!' Toravik bellowed. 'I swear, if I don't manage–'

'You don't need to swear anything, Toravik,' said Oliver. 'You've got everything you need there in front of you. Teach him a lesson!'

Again, the smith charged towards his opponent like a furious bison, launching him through the air to clatter against the ground in a clang of metal. After Sir Garek, Sir Aldair was up next but he incurred the same fate.

'Just one more!' Corentin cried. 'There's only Sir Arnau left! If Toravik beats him, we'll win five points and win the tournament.'

'Come on, Toravik!' Oliver shouted. 'He's yours! Do it for Adara! Show him what you're made of!'

'What I'm made of?' Toravik replied as the gleam in his eyes suddenly disappeared. 'I'm not made of steel! I'm no better than an old, nicked sword! Where was I when a thousand varblins attacked Adara's parents and left her an orphan? Where was I when they stuck an arrow through her neck and left her for dead? If I was made of better stuff, I wouldn't be here breaking lances against my friends. I would be out there, destroying the skulls of those damn varblins and then I'd be making soup with the miniscule brains.'

'But, Toravik...'

There was nothing else Oliver could say to encourage the smith. The horn sounded again and Toravik listlessly galloped towards Sir Arnau, who sank his lance into Toravik's chest with barely any resistance. When the dust cloud had risen, Rodrigo saw Toravik sprawled on the ground. They had lost.

'Well,' said Corentin, 'we almost won but at least we finished second. The most important thing is the green team were eliminated. We won our bet.'

'A round of applause for Sir Arnau, our winning knight!' Balkar declared. 'Now, it is time to update the scoreboard. The white team wins five more points, reaching the remarkable sum of forty-three points and therefore winning the tournament. A round of applause for them, please!'

They all applauded the participants of the white team who hugged and high-fived each other.

'In second place, we have the red team with thirty-seven points, then the orange team on thirty points, followed by the yellow team on twenty-nine points and the blue team with twenty-six points,' the grand master announced. 'In last place, we have the green team with zero points. Let's hope they will not be trying some more potions next year.

'Well, my friends. The celebration will continue until the sun disappears behind the horizon. Now, it is time for music, folk singing, juggling and dancing! Today, spring begins and with it, we bid farewell to the dark and cold winter. The days will began to grow in length after today. Let's celebrate and have fun. It is strictly prohibited to be bored!'

A group of children began playing a lively melody on bagpipes and drums while others juggled with torches. Rodrigo and his friends looked on in astonishment as they moved them towards their mouths and enormous flames escaped.

'Erold! Are you alright?' a voice exclaimed.

Rodrigo spun round to see Lady Porwena supporting the old history teacher who seemed as though he was about to collapse.

'It... It's nothing,' he replied. 'It's the fire, it brings back bad memories. I have never got used to it.'

'Because of the battle?' Porwena asked and he nodded.

'That's it!' Vega cried, also observing the scene. 'The fire that never cedes!'

'What did you say?' Porwena asked, confused, still supporting Erold.

'No, nothing,' she muttered. 'I was thinking about something else.'

Porwena stared at her for a few seconds then helped the old man to find somewhere to sit down.

'Guys!' Vega said. 'I know what Irdunequi means!'