He shrugged, watching me. “I’m not sure. It was brought by bird—” He paused as if he didn’t know how to say whatever was on the tip of his tongue.
“What? Tell me.”
Landin scratched the back of his head again while shifting on his feet uncomfortably. “Well, it got delivered to some kid who said it arrived by a paper bird.”
My brows rose in surprise. “A conjured bird?”
His hand dropped to his side. “Don’t know. I was not present when it arrived. I only have what the child said to go from.”
I frowned, looking at my name written on the paper in neat handwriting.
Flipping it over, I slid a finger beneath the wax, breaking the seal.
Ariana
I have heard such remarkable stories of you and am dying to know whether they are indeed true. And so, I would like to extend an invitation to dinner in the Sidhe territory. Please feel free to bring a handful of Bavadrins with you, as I do not expect a woman such as yourself to travel alone.
No harm will come to you or your companions on this night as long as there will be no aggression from them. This is something that I will swear to you.
I understand it is roughly a three-day trip from your home to mine. Therefore, I will allow for an appropriate time for you to prepare to make such ajourney and ask that you arrive ten days after receiving this letter.
I highly look forward to meeting you.
-Clause, King of the Sidhe
The letter held a blood smear to seal the promise he made.
Landin swore under his breath, having read it along with me.
“Where is Edda?” I asked while re-reading the note, as if there may have been something I missed or misread.
“I will find her.” The sense of urgency in his voice was evident. He certainly had questions floating around in his thick skull but was too surprised by the turn of events to ask any.
“Tell her to meet me in my room,” I ordered and ran out of the building with Landin close behind.
Moments later, I was on horseback and riding home. Rain, the horse Erik left behind and the fastest we had on our side of the border, sprinted full speed. Her hooves hit the dirt with powerful grace, sending bits of grass and rock flying. She brought me home in hardly any time.
Running through the building, I hoped that Edda would be there, somewhere. She wasn’t. After a thorough search—I looked into some rooms a few times—I finally retreated to my quarters to wait.
After three minutes, I nearly ran back out to recheck all the rooms again. An uncomfortable nervousness took hold of me. It was torture having such a spike of adrenaline coursing through me without having anything to physically act upon. And all of it stemmed from a single letter.
Clause, the ruler of the Sidhe, was calling me forth to dinner.
It was not something I had ever heard of happening before.
I could not imagine what being in the Sidhe King’s presence would be like. Did he know the Lysians were after him and that I believed there may have been truth to their accusations?
Edda entered my room with no warning, marching straight to me. She did not ask whether something was wrong, for she could read me like a book. Silently, I held out the letter. She took it in her hands, her eyes flowing over it. When she finished, she released a sigh and sat down on the edge of my bed.
“Well, you must go,” she said simply.
“You aren’t afraid of what may happen if I do?” I couldn’t keep the surprise from my face, for she had decided so quickly.
Her lips pinched, as they often did when she considered how much she wanted to tell me. Were there things she knew of him? “He swore with blood. The letter is sealed with it. The Sidhe King will not break his promise as long as you do not break it either. You should probably prick your finger and mark this too, for good measure.” Concern shadowed her features. Edda’s gaze flowed over the letter for a second time.
“And you think that will work?” I asked. She spoke as if she knew him, though that was impossible. Did she see him in visions of the future? If she had, she never shared that with me.
Edda shrugged. “Blood oaths worked to keep the lands here separated from the Lysians and Sidhe for millennia until that one Lysian King made sure the treaty broke.”
