“The raiders? They came out here?”
Jade returned her gaze to Theo with a nod. “Years ago. Long before I was born.”
The raiders came from the neighboring kingdom of Hervaria—magic-wielders or those who sympathized with them. They declared themselves Marran’s reckoning for the law that called for their deaths. Their goal was the castle, aiming to burn it to the ground for the cruel and unjust law, and they cut down anyone in their path who could not prove they were a sorcerer or sorceress.
“If they were going to the castle, wouldn’t they have stayed farther north?” Theo’s eyebrows scrunched together. “What were they doing out here?”
“I think the military pushed them out here, actually.” Being stationed at the Brithswaitian base of Ivanelli, Jade had learned much of the history ofthe area, particularly how it pertained to military operations. “They diverted the raiders from a more direct path toward the castle and sent them into the countryside.”
Theo’s eyes widened as they drifted to the window. “I had no idea it was this bad. The towns around here don’t show the effects of it.”
Jade shook her head. “Some of that is a result of Ivanelli being established here as a response to the raids. But the towns were better defended. The people out here on their farms and estates were so isolated from each other that they had less defense against the raiders.”
Much of the region had been devastated in the attacks, Jade had learned. Entire families were never heard from again. Country homes sat empty. Fields once bountiful with crops were desolate and overtaken by weeds.
Half an hour into their journey and subtle changes in the area indicated a few signs of life. A horse grazing in a less-overgrown field. Patched cracks in the pavement. Still not much, but at least it was believable that people lived out there.
At long last, the carriage turned down a drive, and Jade and Theo peered out the window. Tall, lush trees lined the pebbly drive, and in their shade, the carriage cooled instantly. Beyond the trees on one side appeared to be an expansive flower garden, surprisingly well-tended given the abandoned nature of the home. On the other side, Jade found an open field that gave way to a grove of trees in the distance.
The trees ended where the drive curved and circled around a bubbling fountain in front of a brown manor house, with stained wooden shaker shingles and ivy curling up the walls. Rows of tall windows lined both stories, their clean glass glimmering with sunlight. Manicured shrubs of various shapes and sizes ran along the front of the house, and three shallow steps led up to the green front door.
Jade’s mouth fell open at the remarkable lived-in quality of the manor. Matherson had told them this place was abandoned. Had the military made all these renovations? Or had the carriage brought them to the wrong place?
Theo spoke Jade’s thoughts into existence as the carriage stopped in front of the steps. “I guess it works better as a secret headquarters when it appears inhabited. I imagine if anyone saw people coming and going from a deserted, dilapidated house, they’d get suspicious.”
The trooper driving them hopped down and opened the door facing the manor. “Here we are, Captains,” the trooper said as Jade descended the carriage’s single step onto the pebbles of the drive. He handed the reins of the horses over to a trooper managing transportation and followed in line behind Jade and Theo.
The stones crunched under her boots, and she took a deep inhale of the fresh air after being confined to the stuffy carriage for so long. It smelled almost perfumed, no doubt from the multiple blooming plants and possibly even from the flower garden not too far away. Jade caught a whiff of horses and found a stable to the right of the manor. By all accounts, this was a functioning manor house.
A new thrill pulsed through Jade as she lifted her eyes and took in the beautiful home before her. This would make her assignment so much morereal. She already found herself dipping into the character she was crafting, becoming Lady Elena Tavigne.
How similar was this manor to the home she might have grown up in? She didn’t remember it. Something from her past called to her, as if she was finally stepping into a part of herself that had never had the chance to exist.
Jade cast a glance back at Theo, who shaded his eyes with his hand as they traveled up the house in the same way hers had.
“Now this is a little more like it,” he said in all seriousness.
“What do you mean?”
He dropped his head to meet her gaze and grinned. “Like you said, I’m used to being stationed at the castle.”
Jade’s lips parted in disbelief as she rolled her eyes. “You came from Hillseth, which is as much a run-of-the-mill base as the next.”
“Yes, but before that, I was at the castle.”
“And before that, you were atHillseth.”
A blonde female trooper greeted them with a broad smile and a quick salute. Trooper Erreth, from Theo’s company. Jade remembered her from their introduction at the strategy meeting.
“Captain Ni’ihm, Captain Redman, welcome to Featherly Manor.” Trooper Erreth turned and led the way inside the house, saying over her shoulder, “Your identity team is awaiting you, Captain Ni’ihm, but I can show you around a little first, if you would like.”
Jade and Theo shared a glance, communicating wordlessly. “Absolutely,” Jade answered for both of them.
They stepped over the threshold and into a tiled, circular vestibule with marble pillars stretching on either side, delineating the boundary of the inviting entrance hall, painted a creamy yellow. Two-story ceilings pulled Jade’s eyes upward, drawing her attention to the gallery of magnificent paintings around them and the box beam ceiling. The foot of a broad marble staircase opened before them, curving along the wall up to the gallery and a catwalk surrounding the foyer.
“Straight ahead is the library, and to the right, you’ll find a passage that leads to a drawing room. To the left is the dining room.” Erreth guided them first to the library, pushing open the beautifully carved wooden door to reveal a long room lined with arched windows and shelves stacked with books on the other three walls. Rugs covering the wooden floors and the comfortable furniture additions added warmth to the room, even with the empty fireplace.
“When you’re ready, we can show you the notes we have and the basic plan for the evening.” Inside the library were two desks, one with maps layered on top of each other and one with a small stack of papers arranged neatly on the shiny surface. A trooper sat behind each of the desks—one from Hillseth and one from Ivanelli—and they stood at the captains’ entrance, offering quick salutes and small smiles. Four more troopers, who had been lounging on the couches around a small coffee table, snapped to attention, bringing their arms across their chests.
