“I hope you’re right.”
One kingdom down; three to go.
Seventeen
A letter came from Caliza during breakfast the next morning. Lighting a candle and setting it on the dining table, I read quickly through the visible text describing how much she missed me before sprinkling black dust over the back of the letter. I held it as near to the flame as I dared, and the invisible ink materialized.
Thia,
The king and queen of Trendell have agreed to host an alliance meeting. They’ll hear us out, but they want to see the crow. They’ve set a meeting date for near a month from now, on the Trendellan holiday of Belin’s Day. We have to hatch the crow by then.
Things here are growing more precarious. Skirmishes have broken out on the border, and the Illucian army has raided as far south as Mycair. We can hold them off for now, but they’re choking our supply lines, and the latest report on crops isn’t good.
We’re running out of time.
Please stay safe.
Love,
Caliza
The letter crumpled in my fist. We’d acquiesced to all Razel’s demands, and yet she was still terrorizing my people.
Kiva plucked the letter from my hand, read it, and then crossed the room to toss it into the fire.
“Well, at least Trendell has agreed to host the meeting,” she said. I’d updated her on the meeting with Diah. Things were finally moving. “The only question is how do we get there.”
“And with a hatched crow,” I said.We’re running out of time.
Standing, I left my breakfast untouched and went to my room to pen a return letter for Caliza, writing in invisible ink that I had a lead on the egg and would update her soon. Then I wrapped the egg in a blanket, set it gently in a bag with a book and sweater to disfigure the shape, and returned to the common room.
Kiva nearly dropped the teapot she’d been pouring from. “What in the Saints’ name are you doing?”
“Taking the egg to Caylus.”
She set the teapot down with a thump. “Did I hit you too hard sparring this morning?”
I rolled my eyes. “You read Caliza’s letter. We’re running out of time. Caylus is with the rebels. If we can’t trust them, this is all for nothing anyways. And right now, he’s my only chance of hatching this egg.”
Kiva looked like she wanted to argue, but in the end, she let out a grumbling sigh.
“Send this out for me?” I handed her the letter.
She took it. “I hate that I’m stuck here.”
“At least you can spend more time with Auma.” I shot for the door before she could throw something at me.
* * *
Caylus had just finished up a shift when I arrived at the bakery, his hair and skin dusted in flour like powdered snow. He smiled when I entered, and we went upstairs to his workshop. He sat down at one of the workbenches beside the kitten, who lay curled on a blanket near the sona lamp. “Is something wrong?”
“I need your help.” I pulled the bag at my hip onto the workbench, then paused. Despite what I’d said to Kiva, trusting Caylus was a risk. But he already knew about our plans with the rebels. If he was going to betray us, he would have already.
I unwrapped the blanket, revealing the egg.
Caylus’s eyes widened, and he ran quivering fingers along the smooth shell. I gave him a moment. When he finally looked back at me, I said, “We need to figure out how to make it hatch.”
He blinked. “You think it’s still alive?”
