“I found you,” he said.
“You did.”
He came to lean on the wall next to me.
“When did you first start keeping an eye on me?” I asked.
“About five weeks ago. Up until then, I mostly saw Ulmar Hreban. I didn’t know why. I can’t always control my visions. Sometimes they come unbidden.”
“Like sparks from a fire.” That’s how he had described it in the books.
“Yes, like that. The spark glows, and I catch a glimpse. Sometimes I see what I am seeking. Sometimes I see something different. I saw my father die.”
Oh.
“I saw Hreban cutting off someone’s hands. I think he was a thief. I saw Lord Everard riding. And then I started seeing you. At first only hints, then more and more.”
“I did my best,” I told him. “I am sorry I wasn’t in time to help your father.”
“It’s not your fault. You weren’t here. You saved me instead. He would be grateful.”
Matheo unsheathed his sword and showed it to me. He carried Reynald’s blade.
“When did you get this?”
“His Grace left it with the Sun Margrave. There was a note with it. It said that my father carried this sword with honor, and I had to strive to be worthy of it. I carried it with me into that battle. It tasted dursan blood.”
He smiled at me.
Fifteen-year-olds. They thought they were immortal.
“I think my father would be proud.”
“He would be. You didn’t run. You performed your duty with honor. What will you do now, Matheo?”
“I will become a knight of Selva.”
“Is that what you truly want?”
He nodded. His face turned somber. In that moment he was a mirror of Reynald, hard and slightly mournful. He looked like a boy with two dead parents who had been abducted by slavers, sold to a knight order, and then had to pretend to be content and dutiful to survive.
“My father trusted His Grace,” Matheo said quietly. “When he was backed into a corner, he went to ask him for help because of a promise made over a decade ago, and Everard honored it. I want to know what kind of person he is for my father to have trusted him that much. I will learn from him and if his cause stops being just, I will find someone else to follow. But right now, he has my loyalty.”
He reached into his jerkin and handed me a small velvet pouch. “He left this with the sword for you.”
I took the pouch. “Thank you.”
“I’m going downstairs to get some pastries.”
And that was the perfect teenager for you.I will devote my life to the Sleepless Duke, but first I will get some pastries.
“I’ll be right behind you.”
He nodded and ran down the stairs.
I opened the pouch. There was a note inside and something else. Something metal. I held the note to the lantern and unfolded it. On it, in Everard’s strong hand, was a single sentence:
I’ll see you tonight.
