“Fiona, your father wants to see you,” she says as she hands me the note. I rub the sleep out of my eyes and scan the letter.
F,
Meet me under Lachlan Castle at three.
I need to see you, to see how you are.
Don’t bring anyone else.
Be aware of your surroundings.
Remember your training.
Destroy this letter when you’ve read it.
~R
I look up at Ainslee, who seems unusually angry. “What’s wrong?”
“Where under Lachlan Castle is he supposed to meet you? There are nearly as many rooms under the castle as there are above it.”
I chuckle and stand up, stretching as I talk. “I’m not meeting him in Lachlan Castle, Ainslee. Do you think my father would tell anyone where we were supposed to meet? It’s coded. He doesn’t trust you, and he certainly doesn’t trust a messenger not to be apprehended or turn traitor.”
I look back at the correspondence, noting the first letters of each line. M-I-D-B-R-D. “Is there a Midpoint or Midway or Middle Bridge somewhere?”
“Midnight Bridge,” she says, nodding. “It connects the castle to the rest of the city.”
“What time is it?” I ask.
“Breakfast just started being served, so you still have a bit before you need to meet him.”
I shake my head and grab my gear. The letter said three, and there’s six lines. “No. That’s part of the code. I need to be there at nine.”
She blinks. “Damn it all. Then we need to hurry.”
I shake my head. “I’m going alone. We haven’t heard any fighting in two days. My father and I need to talk freely, so you need to stay here.”
“There’s no way I’m letting you go anywhere alone,” she says. “We’re on the same side of this…”
I shake my head again. “Sorry, Countess Ainslee, there are some things you’ll never understand. I’m going alone to meet my father, and if you try to follow me, I’ll take it as… Well, I’ll understand that I can’t trust you. I appreciate everything you three have done for me, but I’m not meeting my father with you at my side.”
Ainslee stares at me, and I can see the fury in her eyes, but it’s her husband who breaks the tension between us. “She has to face the trials alone, and we’re trusting her to survive those. We can trust her to meet her father.”
Ainslee continues to glare at me for a few more moments and then turns around. “Fine. Leave. We won’t follow, but Fiona, you need to understand that your decisions have weight now. You’re no longer fighting just for yourself, or you and your father, or even all of Sylvantia. You are the key to saving every human and Lesser Fae life. Don’t be a reckless twenty-five-year-old and make all of them pay for your mistakes.”
“I’ll try to be a little more responsible,” I say with plenty of attitude as I sling the bow over my shoulder. A much more obvious latch on this side of the wall clicks, and the secret door swings open to reveal an empty hallway. I push the stone back into place until it closes and becomes just another unremarkable wall.
I walk toward the entrance of Castle Lachlan. Thankfully, I don’t see anyone until I get to the Great Hall where the food has been set up. Far fewer people are there, and a surprising number of them glance up at me, their eyes darkening at the sight.
I don’t give them the pleasure of seeing me hurry out of the Great Hall. The last thing I want is for them to think I’m afraid of them. The reality is that I should be afraid, especially if I can’t use my Marks.
When I step out of the outer doors, I make my way around to the side of the castle. Guards are posted nearly everywhere. My father’s note said that he’d meet me below the Midnight Bridge, but that’s only the code that a Priest of the First Mark would know.
It becomes more complicated. The message needs to be interpreted.Meet me under Lachlan Castle at three.Start from under the Midnight Bridge at nine.I need to see you, to see how you are.He’ll be somewhere he can see that position from.Don’t bring anyone else.That’s a simple statement telling me not to bring Darian, Rhion, or Ainslee.Be aware of your surroundings.He’ll be behind, under, or over something.Remember your training.That one’s more complicated. It means that a normal human couldn’t get to him. Only someone with the training or tools of a Priest could reach him.Destroy this letter when you’ve read it.The last line of every coded message ends with something similar.
I peer at the bottom of the bridge that crosses the moat. The moat has been carved out of the stony hill Castle Lachlan was built on. He’ll be somewhere that has a good vantage point of the bridge, yet is hidden from any of the guards.
My gaze scours the rocky cliffs, looking for anything that would give him enough shelter. I almost miss it, but then I see the rocky overhang. It’d give him cover from guards looking from above, and he’d be able to see the bottom of the bridge from there.
