My heart hammered in my chest. Was this the moment they arrested and caged me for life?
“What is it?” my dad growled.
The guard held out a wax-sealed envelope. My father tried to take it from him, but the guard snatched it away. “I have strict orders to give this to Fallon Bane!” the guard snapped.
My father narrowed his eyes. “Well, my daughter isn’t wearing her gloves, and I have strict orders to protect her from being touched. You will hand me that envelope or you will have to leave and report to your queen that you were unable to complete your job.”
Whoa.
My dad never got mad, but he’d totally put the guard in his place. He was right. I was just about to go to bed and didn’t wear my gloves to sleep.
The man’s nostrils flared, but he handed the envelope to my dad, who in turn gently handed it to me, only grasping the edge so that we wouldn’t touch.
“Is that all?” my father asked the guard.
The man nodded, and then my dad shut the door in his face.
I burst out laughing. “Dad!”
He shrugged as he locked the door. “You don’t knock on a man’s door this late at night and boss him around and expect to be treated like a king. What does it say?”
I peered at the red-and-gold-swirled wax seal with a flame emblem and gulped. Maybe it said I would be imprisoned tomorrow or next week.
With a shaky hand, I cracked the seal and peeled open the envelope. Pulling out a handwritten note, I steeled myself and read it.
Fallon,
My council appreciates your desire to take responsibility for your ancestor’s past mistakes and pledge your allegiance to me. I have approved this request. Before doing so in a public setting, you will sign the below agreement so that I know you are serious.
My demands:
You will legally change your family name from Brookshire to Bane.
You will take up residence at Bane Manor on Raven Hill. Your father is permitted to live with you.
You will follow a 10:00 p.m. curfew, NO MATTER WHAT, and be inside your residence each night at this hour.
You agree to be forever locked in Bane Manor if you show ANY evidence of going dark.
You are legally bound to this agreement upon signature. To break this contract would normally result in your death, but since I cannot do that without killing my heir, instead I will kill your father if you betray me.
Fallon Bane Signature ____________
In duty to the Light,
Queen Solana Madden
P.S. Ayden insisted you have Ember so that you can get from Bane Manor to school on time. It’s on loan until Ariyon comes back.
My head swam with her list of demands. Change my name? Forever be locked in Bane Manor if I go dark? It hit me then: the cage that she was building was Bane Manor.
“What does it say?” my dad asked again, peering at the paper as if he wanted to read it.
I folded it quickly and plastered on a fake smile. “She approved my request to publicly take responsibly for the Bane family and pledge my allegiance to her.”
My dad frowned. “But?”
I sighed. “But she wants me to change my family name to Bane, and we will need to move into the old Bane family manor.”
