Chapter 118 -Avianna-

Chapter 118 -Avianna-
\-Avianna-

If Elise could have entered the palace, she would have. She wouldn't have spent the entire day showing herself to me from a distance. Rhydon wouldn't have needed to lure Charlotte to an abandoned watchtower.

"They can't get through the protections," I say. "So they're trying to make us come out."

"Trying to make you come out," Father corrects.

I sigh.

"I am not suggesting I walk out there alone and politely ask Elise what she wants."

"Good," Father says. "Because I was beginning to question several years of expensive tutors."

A laugh almost escapes me as I look down at the letter again. Rhydon had chosen Charlotte because he knew she might come. Elise had chosen Charlotte because she knew I would care that she had.

And after what happened inside that vision, Elise should know better than anyone that I am no longer wandering blindly into her games.

"If they wanted Charlotte, they could have taken her anywhere."

Father's expression shifts.

"They left you a trail."

"Exactly."

The letter… The watchtower… Rhydon allowing himself to be seen… None of it was subtle because it wasn't supposed to be.

I look at the three men standing around me.

"I intend to let them think I am following after Charlotte."

Silence settles over the study until Agameus smiles and my father notices.

"Do not encourage her."

"I didn't say anything."

"You didn't need to."

I reach for the letter. There is one more person who needs to know. I open the tether completely.

Caylix.

Of course he responds immediately.

What happened?

Not what is it? Not are you all right? He already knows me too well.

I take a breath.

Rhydon and Elise are in Caelthar.

Everything on the other side of the tether goes frighteningly still.

…How?

I don't know. But Rhydon sent Charlotte a letter. He told her he's King now, that he wants her to be his Queen, and asked her to meet him at the eastern watchtower and of course, Charlotte went.

The emotion that crashes through the tether is so immediate I have to brace a hand against the table.

Avi, no.

I close my eyes.

I haven't done anything yet.

You're thinking about it.

Of course he knows. I can almost see him two kingdoms away, jaw clenched, already calculating how quickly he can get back to me.

You promised me.

The words hurt because he's right.

I promised I wouldn't leave the palace while you were gone.

Exactly.

And I meant it.

That sounds suspiciously like the beginning of an argument explaining why you're about to break your promise.

I smile. Father watches me but says nothing.

I'm telling you because I promised we weren't going to hide things from each other anymore.

His frustration reaches me immediately. Underneath it is something worse… Fear. Not because he thinks I'm incapable, but just because he isn't here. For thirteen years, Caylix has stood between me and every threat before it could reach me. Now he is two kingdoms away. And I am asking him to trust me to stand there myself.

I know it's a trap, I tell him. Father knows. Erik knows. Agameus knows. I'm not going alone, and I'm not walking into this without a plan.

His answer takes longer this time. When it comes, his voice inside my mind is quieter.

I hate this.

My chest tightens.

I know.

Another long silence. Then I feel him decide to trust. Reluctant, terrified trust, but trust all the same.

I cannot lose you, Avi. 

The words settle somewhere deep inside my chest.

For a moment, I don't know what to say. There is nothing I can promise that would make this easier for him. I cannot tell him I will be perfectly safe when we both know exactly who is waiting beyond those walls, and I refuse to give him a promise neither of us can guarantee.

So I give him the truth instead.

You aren't going to lose me.

The fear remains, heavy and warm through the tether.

Besides, you have plenty to worry about without trying to manage me from two kingdoms away. How is our fake Queen?

There is a pause, and I feel the slightest shift in him. Not amusement exactly, but close enough that some of the pressure in my chest eases.

Our fake Queen?

Until someone tells me her name, I'm running out of things to call her.

I feel him laugh finally. 

Her hands are tied. She's blindfolded, gagged, and currently sitting directly in front of me. She isn't going anywhere, and she certainly isn't telling us anything.

I glance at Erik. He has been watching me carefully since the moment Caylix's attention entered the tether, and I know exactly what he's waiting to hear.

"She's safe," I tell him. "Caylix has her secured. They're still on their way."

Some of the tension leaves Erik's face, although not much.

"Has she said anything?"

"Apparently Caylix has made that somewhat difficult."

Agameus's brows rise.

I elaborate. "Tied hands. Blindfold. Gag."

Father nods approvingly. "Good."

Erik looks considerably less impressed.

"If what we suspect is true, she has spent thirteen years wearing my wife's face. I want answers."

That wipes away any trace of humor. I reach across the table and place my hand over his.

"We're going to find out who she is, and where Lenora is."

My words are quiet as I squeeze his hand once before letting go.

Caylix?

I'm here.

Erik wants to know if she's been cooperative.

She tried to bite me.

I press my lips together to keep from laughing.

Perhaps keep the gag.

That was my thought.

A tiny laugh escapes me before I can stop it.

Father gives me a look. "What?"

"Apparently the prisoner bites."

Erik closes his eyes briefly.

"Wonderful."

For the first time since I entered the study, the tension cracks just enough for all of us to breathe, but it only lasts for a moment.

I straighten and spread Rhydon's letter flat across the table.

"Now we need to decide what we're doing about Charlotte."

Father's expression immediately becomes serious again.

"We send soldiers."

"Hmm… If soldiers were enough, Rhydon wouldn't have bothered with any of this."

I tap the letter.

"He wants me at the watchtower. Elise wants me outside the wards. If twenty Caeltharian soldiers arrive instead, either Charlotte disappears with them or Elise simply leaves and tries something else."

"And your alternative?" Erik asks.

"We give them what they want."

Father's jaw sets.

"Avianna."

"But not actually."

I turn the letter around so they can see the location Rhydon wrote at the bottom.

"The eastern watchtower hasn't been used in years. The old training fields run behind it, and the woods begin here."

I point toward the eastern edge.

Father studies it.

"You want soldiers in the woods."

"I want them everywhere they can be without being seen."

Agameus comes closer to the table.

"And you?"

"I walk to the watchtower."

Caylix's presence flares so violently through the tether that I nearly wince.

Absolutely not.

You said you trusted me.

I do. I don't trust the witch waiting for you.