Seda sat on the bench next to Sara, her worry about her father growing heavier with each passing thought. Was he okay? Did they hurt him like how she saw that man the day of the Wyrd?
The news was so overwhelming that the cool concrete bench was the only thing holding her steady, stopping her from collapsing to the ground.Would this mean she would never see him again?
“What could Dad even have done? Mom, do you know why he was in Cascade?” Benny asked.
Sara shook her head as she nervously twiddled with the hem ofher dress. “No, darling, he did not tell me why he went there. Just that he had meetings with some officials and would be back in a couple of days.”
Cahir was standing behind Seda, and she numbly felt him touch her shoulders, doing what little he could to offer her comfort.
“What if I go to Cascade and try to talk to someone on that side of the Palatium?” Benny suggested.
“Please, no,” Sara said. “I cannot have something happen along the way, and you possibly being taken as well. I couldn’t handle it. All we can do is pray to Lord Mordred for your father’s rehabilitation.”
Seda agreed. There really was no way to get to Cascade in time, especially with the curfew approaching soon.Benny would definitely get caught being out after hours. He wasn’t the best at being sneaky and often got into trouble as a child.
But they had to find some answers. The letter didn’t give them any valuable information to move forward.
“What if I go?” Cahir suggested.
Seda looked up at him suddenly and exclaimed, “No!”
Cahir and Seda rarely left each other’s sides. She couldn’t bear the thought of her best friend going to the Camp if he got caught.
“Seda, I can help with this. Let me see if I can find some answers.” Cahir’s gentle eyes met hers.
“Seda is right. You shouldn’t go, Cahir. You two are trying to start a family. I can make some calls and see if I can find some more answers,” Sara suggested as she lightly patted her swollen eyes.
“I love Jason, too. He is as much my family as you are, Seda.” He looked back down at Seda.
She vehemently shook her head again.
“Seda, he wants to help. Maybe he can find some answers for us,” Benny said as he sat beside her, nervously shaking his leg. “Please? I’m really worried about Dad. It has to be a misunderstanding. We both know they won’t answer when Mom calls.”
“But what about curfew?” she asked, her voice cracking.
“I’ll arrive before curfew and find a safe place to stay overnight. Then, first thing in the morning, I’ll look for answers. I’ll try to meet you here tomorrow afternoon with an update. Maybe I can arrive before he gets transferred to the Camp and see if we can work something out,” Cahir answered.
Seda didnotlike the idea. She couldn’t recall a time when someone could interrupt the process, but her father was probably scared and alone, and he was a high-society member.
Maybe rules could bend sometimes?
She stood up, spun around, and wrapped her arms around him. She inhaled his cedar scent and whispered into his shoulder, “Thank you, Cahir. Please be safe, I can’t do all of this without you.”
He leaned in, gently kissed her forehead, then pulled away. He softly brushed a tear from her cheek with his thumb and offered a tender smile. “Would you mind staying with your family tonight while I’m away? What if another bird breaks through a window?”
She let out a strained laugh and nodded before watching Cahir walk out the door, leaving her alone for the first time in five years.
“Bird?” Benny asked.
Chapter 5
Cahir
The sun was low in the shimmering sky, and the air was gradually starting to cool as Cahir sprinted off the Gardvord grounds, intent on reaching Cascade before the city’s curfew alarm went off.
He wasn’t sure where to find Jason, but he figured he could start at Joro Hall, where most society gatherings took place. It was a two-hour walk from the Gardvord, and he had only an hour to get there.
He had just enough time to reach the hall and find a place to hide for the night if he jogged the distance. He cut through apartment complex courtyards and leaped over fences along the fields.
