“I have faith in you. I’m sure you’ll find it,” Ambriel said, smiling so kindly that it twisted her gut into guilty knots.
Gallantly, the angel led her back to her horse.
She mounted astride, and he held her gaze before she lifted a hand in farewell and turned her horse to the path back to the castle grounds.
After she brushed Draugr down, she walked back to the castle in good spirits.
When she approached the back entrance of the castle, she spotted something strange: Finnigan, appearing to talk to himself in the gardens.
He was leaning against the castle wall, nearly obscured by a trellis of ivy.
“He will never suspect,” Finnigan muttered.
On the other side of the trellis was a shadowed figure, but she couldn’t see who it was. There was a murmured reply, too soft for her to hear. She wondered who he was speaking to.
“I know. Soon,” Finnigan promised. Absentmindedly, he grazed a finger along the ivy-covered trellis. He took a tendril of ivy and rubbed it between his fingers, as if lost in thought.
Finnigan paused, as if listening to a reply that was too soft for her to catch.
“Come now, he is our real master and won’t lead us astray,” Finnigan said sharply. His voice softened. “I am only trying to help you.”
Finding no way to get to the castle doors without being seen, she began taking unnecessarily loud steps and whistling as she approached.
Finnigan whirled on her and snarled. “Elizabeth. What are you doing here?”
She smiled brightly, pretending to have just noticed he was there. “Oh, Finnigan, nice running into you.” She glanced at the trellis, but whoever he had been talking to was gone.
“What are you doing here?” he snapped, crushing the ivy vine in his fist.
“Walking, if that is acceptable to you,” she replied coolly, before continuing.
As she reached the castle doors, she felt Finnigan’s eyes boring holes into the back of her skull.
Chapter 36
Caspian
Caspian was reading a letter from his household in the Underworld when Fiza knocked gently at his door.
He was surprised to see her. The water demon usually kept to herself—the perfect servant. Maud and Fiza were two mid-level water demons he had acquired from Leviathan. They had been a gift, a peace offering between their realms long ago. He continued poring over his documents without acknowledgement before finally nodding permission for her to speak.
Fiza twisted her hands. “Master ... I just ... I thought you might like to know … about Lady Elizabeth.”
“Yes?” he said, already bored. “Tell me.”
“Master, sir, I just thought you might want to know it is her birthday soon. The twenty-fifth of August.”
“And why would I want to know that?”
“In case you wanted to—in case it mattered,” she finished pathetically.
He nodded his thanks. “You are dismissed.”
Fiza nodded rapidly and turned to go.
“Wait,” he said, halting her in her steps.
“Why has the lady gotten distracted of late? Do you know?”
