Publisher's Synopsis
The necklace is safely stowed in the Temple of Harmony. Josh's epilepsy is cured and he no longer has visionary powers. But the 'Rebel Prince' is growing more and more powerful and looks increasingly likely to succeed in his mad plan to drive the colonists out of the Western Isles. What's more he has made a pact with the Empress of Neustria, the great southern continent - where the colonists originally came from - and is sending his prisoners in barges to work as slaves on her estates.
But Josh can't understand why the Prince is still trying to kill him. And without the necklace, he is powerless to fight back. Does he know something about the Prince that would destroy his reputation? Was it a good idea to surrender the necklace, when the peace has already been broken? And what about Prunella, the young girl who should be Empress - whose throne has been snatched from her grasp by her evil stepmother? When Prunella escapes from Neustria aboard the Prince's ship, can she achieve her aim of linking up with Josh? What then?
With the help of Megs, and Feathers, the elderly explorer, they have to find a way of toppling the Prince from his winning ways.
