“What type of courier?” Vi asked, picking up the letter. It was folded into thirds, a wax blob holding it closed. There was no insignia to indicate who it might be from.
“A city courier. I have no other information, m’lady.” The young man bowed. “Good evening.”
“Good evening,” Vi replied before locking the door behind him.
“A letter?” Taavin asked as he emerged.
“Yes, and a strange one at that. It’s sealed, but there’s no crest.” Vi flipped it over. “Yullia” was scribbled on the front with the words “imperial guard” underneath. She pressed on the folds, popping the letter open like an eye. Like this, she could make out the words inside. “Not sealed well.” Vi frowned, thinking of Jayme reading her letters.
“‘I require you for a matter of grave importance. Meet me at the Hog and Bone Inn, room fourteen.Fiarum evantes,’” she read aloud.
“That’s it?” Taavin moved to her side, reading over her shoulder, confirming the answer to his question. “Speaking of suspicious things…”
Vi set the letter down on her chair, intentionally leaving it where it could be found by someone looking for her if something went awry. She grabbed a cloak from her closet and strapped a sword onto her hip.
“Wait, you can’t be thinking of going.” Taavin grabbed her wrist.
“Of course I am.”
“What if it’s a trap by the Knights?”
“Then I’ll kill them all and show them I’m not one to be trifled with. Then they’ll know their best course of action is to clear out of this city,” Vi said with all the vitriol she felt for the group.
“Think about this logically…”
“I am.”
“No, you’re acting on emotion and indulging your vendetta. You’re reaching for too much, Vi. First saving everyone, now eradicating the Knights of Jadar. Some things aremeant to happen,and preventing them will be met with failure at best, or at worst…”
“At worst?” Vi prodded when he trailed off.
“At worst you could create a world where you’re not born again. Where there is no Vi Solaris.”
“If everyone I love lives long and healthy lives in that world, then so be it.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“I do.” Ever since her vision at the docks, Vi had come to terms with the idea of not existing herself if it meant the world was safe. If Vhalla, Aldrik, and Romulin lived on, even if they weren’t really her family, it would be enough for her.
“And if you fail in this timeline and there is no new Vi—no Champion—they’ll all be condemned to death by Raspian’s blight.”
Vi bit the insides of her cheeks and scowled at the door. “I know all this. I’ll be careful, I promise.”
“Vi—”
She dismissed him with a wave of her hand. Taavin vanished, though his words lingered. They clung to her like he had, holding her in place.
Was he right? Was she overreaching?
Vi shook her head and started forward, out her door, down the hall, and out of the castle. She had everything under control. She was the one with all the power, pulling the strings.
She had nothing to fear.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Vi kepther hood up and her head down all the way to the Hog and Bone Inn. The inn wasn’t far from the main entrance of the city, a fairly straight shot from the castle. But Vi took a longer route. She wandered down side streets and sprinted through alleyways.
She glanced over her shoulders and remained as alert as possible. But the night was quiet, and she arrived at the quaint inn without issue.
