37
The South
Fordham followed Kerrigan into her room as she broke the Elsiande wax seal and opened the letter. “What does he say?”
She shook her head as she read through the letter. It was short with a flourishing signature at the bottom. And it said nothing. Not a damn thing.
Dear Kerrigan,
Thank you so much for your entreaty into my well-being. All is well with me. I have returned to the countryside for my health. It is wonderful to be back in my hometown of Archdale, where I can wake up every morning whole and hale and look out across the Corvian Sea.
It does bring me joy to hear from you. As ever, you should have no reason to worry over me. I merely wish to continue the long days I have left in this world with my family—particularly my nephew, Ever—nearby. The city has lost its luster of late.
I do wish to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
Ellerby Emberton of Elsiande
She cast the letter aside, and Fordham gingerly plucked it off the ground.
“That bad?” he asked.
She huffed, “All he does is rave about his health. He says nothing about why he abandoned me to this fate. Only that he left to return home to be with his nephew.”
Fordham read through the letter once, twice, three times before he sighed. “I believe this is a code.”
“What?”
“I don’t believe he is speaking plainly. I think it is a cry for help.”
“What do you mean? He clearly says all is well.”
“Yes. He says it multiple times. How often do people write a letter and say over and over again that they are well?”
She shrugged. “I don’t get many letters. What do you think he’s really saying then?”
“That he was in trouble. He fled the city in haste and has given you explicit directions as to where he went. He reminds you not to worry, and that he just wanted to be with his nephew. I would suspect his nephew was part of all of this in some way. Then, he says he wants to hear from you soon. Soon, not again, which is the customary address, is it not?”
She reached for the letter and reread the whole thing. “It is. Soon is too immediate. It’s not used. I would have never realized all of that. So… he’s in trouble?” she asked. Fordham nodded. “Which means we need to get to Elsiande to speak to him. Maybe he knows why Lyam was killed and why the assassin tried to kill me next. Maybe he knows who is doing all of this.”
“And how exactly do you presume we get to Elsiande? Isn’t it a few days’ travel by horse?”
She bit her lip and grinned up at him.
“Oh no,” he muttered. “That look usually precedes us being tortured.”
“I have an idea.”
“A bad idea?”
“How do you feel about stealing a dragon?”
“If someone catches us, we’ll probably be kicked out of the mountain,” Fordham reminded her as they crept through the dragon quarters.
“Where’s your sense of adventure, princeling?”
“Securely on the ground,” he muttered.
She turned around in surprise. “Are you afraid of heights?”
“Heights? No,” he said at once. “Falling from extreme heights—like off the back of a dragon, for instance…”
She laughed. “Dragons are perfectly safe, and riding one is the most exhilarating experience of my entire life. You’re going to love it. Or… at least, you’ll get used to it since you’re trying to get a dragon in a few weeks’ time.”
“Fine,” he muttered.
Kerrigan grinned at him and then continued through the cavernous rooms where she had spent so much of her time, growing up. She could name practically every dragon as they passed. Some twitched an eye open at her approach, saw it was her, and then went back to sleep. This place was warm, welcome, and familiar.
“What are you afraid of?” Fordham asked behind her.
“Nothing,” she lied quickly.
“Everyone is afraid of something.”
“Someone once told me that if you master your fear, you’ll do great things. So, for most of my life, I’ve walked right into every fear I’ve had. I face them and embrace them. I don’t want to have any fears holding me back on my way to greatness.”
“Hmm,” Fordham said.
“What?”
“Well, that doesn’t sound like you aren’t afraid of anything. It just sounds like you’ve learned to live with your fears every day of your life. Which means… you’re afraid all the time… of everything, but no one can see it.”
Kerrigan stopped walking as a shiver ran down her back. How was it that she had only known him for a few weeks, and already, he saw straight through her like no one else in the world?
“Yes,” she breathed, turning to look at him. “But isn’t that life?”
“Where I come from… yes,” he said softly. “Here though? I don’t think everyone else is afraid all the time.”
“Everyone else isn’t a half-Fae who was abandoned when they were a child and has had to fight for their place in this world every day of their life.”
Fordham just watched her. He didn’t say anything. Didn’t try to soothe her. He saw exactly who she was down to, and accepted that.
Kerrigan swallowed and kept moving until they came before the plum-purple dragon she had been looking for. “Tavry,” she whispered.
A golden eye opened. Kerrigan, this is most unexpected. His eye swiveled to Fordham. Prince Fordham Ollivier of the House of Shadows, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.
Fordham bowed deeply at the waist. “As it is to make yours, great one.”
Tavry looked back to Kerrigan. I like this one.
Kerrigan laughed. “So do I.”
I assume you did not disturb my sleep just to introduce me to the prince of the Dark Depths. What is it that you require?
The dark depths. Well, that was different. She wondered what it meant as Fordham stiffened at the words.
“I received a letter from Ellerby of Elsiande, and I am in deep need of a way to get to Archdale as fast as I can.”
Tavry looked startled. What is the purpose of this visit?
She swallowed and persevered. She decided to go with the truth. Anything else, and Tavry would be able to see right through it. “I have been investigating a murder, and I believe that Ellerby has important information to prove what truly happened to Lyam.” She rubbed Lyam’s compass in her pocket. “I have been following the leads. I was almost killed twice. Whoever did this is going to great lengths to make sure they are not discovered. I will see justice for Lyam.”
Is this true? Tavry’s eye fixed on Fordham.
He nodded. “Yes, great one. I have been assisting her in these matters, and Ellerby is our last hope to rooting out a murderer in our midst.”
Tavry closed his eye, and Kerrigan thought they were done for. Then, Tavry straightened to his considerable height. His wings crested as he lengthened his figure.
We must be back by dawn, Tavry told them.
Kerrigan calculated the time they had left as she dragged her cloak tightly around her. “It’s a three-hour flight on a good day. That will give us hardly any time to find and speak with Ellerby.”