Jules nodded. “That is beautiful. Thank you for your time.” He bowed again and turned to leave the room.
Meena caught a quick wink from Sophie before they all left the room once more.
Meena walked slowly to match her pace to Sol’s as they moved down the street. With their keepers in front of them, she looked up at Sol. The woman’s words had been strangely appropriate. Meena hoped that there might be more than harmony in their future.
Sol held his arm out to her.
Meena slipped her hand inside his arm, turning her attention to the road ahead.
“What did she dedicate your union to?” Meena asked the couple in front of them.
“To love, of course!” Jules yelled over his shoulder.
Chapter 24
“Another game of quugot?” Jules asked before they had even arrived back at the manse.
Sol smiled nervously. He would not be able to focus on anything other than the secret letter inside his doublet.
“That would be so fun!” Meena answered their host.
Sol clenched his jaw, trying to catch Meena’s eye. After two days of constant company, he could not pretend to be pleasant in front of Jules and Ezra any longer.
“However,” Meena continued. “I would feel terrible beating you so soundly so soon.”
Sol exhaled. She was good at this.
Meena stepped closer to Sol, slipping her hand into his arm and leaning her head toward his shoulder. “The sun put me almost to sleep. I need a rest. I will challenge you to quugot as soon as we are rested.”
“Let them be, Jules,” Ezra said. “They didn’t come all this way to spend time with us.”
Jules’s mouth formed a round shape. “Oh, you are quite right, my love. Get some rest. We will see you for supper this evening.”
Sol thanked the princess in his mind as they walked quickly down the hall. The tension in his shoulders relaxed as they left their over-present hosts behind. But excitement built in his fingertips, hoping the letter held useful information.
“How did that happen?” Meena whispered, leaning her back against the closed door of their room. “Do you know who this Sophie is?”
“Robin said she was working on a contact here. I was hoping it would be someone more closely related to the fort, but I am not in a position to choose my allies.” Sol slipped the letter out of his outer shirt. He quickly and carefully broke the wax seal.
“What does it say?” Meena asked, not even giving him a chance to read it. She leaned over his shoulder.
He tilted the sheet of parchment so that she could more easily see it. Something felt odd about the movement. He’d never shared a secret communication with anyone. In fact, he’d taken great pains to ensure even his closest family members never knew he was still leading River’s Thorn. But he’d tilted the letter to Meena without a second thought.
Was he growing lazy in his work here when it was most dangerous? Or did he instinctively trust Meena to carry this burden with him?
He did not like either thought.
The letter was written with coded symbols he had developed with Robin, so it was not legible at first glance. That was likely why he had no qualm showing the paper to Meena. It had nothing to do with laziness or trust. It was just common sense.
“What does it say?” Meena repeated, clearly unable to read the code.
“I don’t know yet,” Sol replied. He moved to the small table, setting the letter in front of him to decipher it.
He looked at the symbols, changing the ones he remembered in his head. He managed to make out a few words, but he would need to rewrite it in order to understand the full contents of the letter.
“Can I help you with that,Rain?” Meena asked, she was standing close to his side.
Sol looked up, confused. She was holding a fresh sheet of parchment and a feather pen. Taking them from her, he placed them on the table in front of him.
