Chapter 119 -Avianna-

Chapter 119 -Avianna-
\-Avianna-

I stare down at the map for a moment before a smile tugs at my mouth.

“Good thing I have absolutely no intention of actually being there, then.”

Father's eyes narrow across the table and I can feel Caylix equally suspicious.

Explain.

I tap the watchtower.

"I'm not physically walking anywhere. My body stays here, inside the wards."

The tension through the tether changes so abruptly that I almost laugh.

You could have led with that.

And miss your dramatic objection?

Avi.

I smile and turn my attention back to the others.

"I go to the watchtower through a vision."

Agameus's expression narrows immediately.

"You believe you can choose the location?"

"I've done it twice now. The first time, I found Caylix. The second time, I deliberately found Elise."

"And both times the vision took you exactly where you intended to go," he says thoughtfully.

"Exactly."

Father looks down at the map again. "Then why the soldiers?"

"Because the last time Elise caught me, she was able to hold me there."

That wipes away what little amusement remains in the room. I continue before Father can object.

"I got myself out, and I know how she did it now. I'm much more confident I can control the connection this time, but I'm not arrogant enough to assume there is nothing she can do that I haven't seen yet."

Thank the gods, Caylix mutters.

I heard that.

It was intended to be heard.

I ignore him.

"If something goes wrong, the soldiers are my distraction."

Erik looks toward the woods marked beside the watchtower.

"You want them to draw Elise's attention."

"Only if I need them to. If she gets hold of me again and I can't break the connection myself, I will say so"

Understanding moves across Father's face.

"And we signal the soldiers."

Agameus nods slowly. "They create enough chaos around the watchtower that Elise has no choice but to divide her attention."

"Which gives me the opening to pull myself out."

Father considers it.

"No engagement unless absolutely necessary."

"Exactly. They aren't there to fight a witch carrying half of the Dark Realm's crystal. They are there to make noise, draw attention and disappear."

Erik studies the map.

"Multiple groups."

I look at him.

"If all the movement comes from one direction, she'll know exactly where they are. Small groups positioned around the perimeter could create disturbances from different locations."

Caylix immediately joins in.

Don't position them too close to the watchtower. If Elise senses them before Avi enters the vision, we've shown our hand. Keep them far enough out that they can move only if they're called.

I relay it.

Erik nods. "He's right. The northern tree line sits higher than the field. Put one group there and another along the old road. A third can wait beyond the southern ridge."

Father is already reaching for a blank piece of parchment. And just like that, what had begun as my plan becomes something better. Two kings, a healer, a Shadow Guard Prince two kingdoms away and me standing over a map trying to determine the safest way to deliberately put my mind in front of a witch.

A perfectly ordinary afternoon.

Then my eyes fall on Rhydon's letter again. Just one problem remains.

"Charlotte."

The room quiets as I pick up the parchment.

"I need to know why she went."

I read the letter again, slower this time. There had always been something about Charlotte's explanation that bothered me. Not because of what she'd said, but because of what I'd felt. She had looked me directly in the eyes and insisted she'd told me everything about Rhydon.

My magic had disagreed.

At the time, I'd let it go. Charlotte was humiliated enough, and whatever she was keeping from me had seemed personal rather than dangerous. Now Rhydon was King of Veylan, and Charlotte had slipped out of the palace to meet him the moment he offered to make her his Queen.

"I think there was more between them."

Father's attention snaps fully to me.

"More?"

"Charlotte told me there wasn't." I pause. "But she wasn't telling the truth."

Father understands immediately.

"I knew she was hiding something. I just didn't know what."

Erik reaches for the letter. His eyes move over Rhydon's words again.

"You think they were involved."

"I think it's possible."

The thought makes several things I hadn't understood suddenly fit together far too well. Charlotte's humiliation… Rhydon's cruelty… The way she'd withdrawn after everything happened…

And now this.

"He knew she'd come," I say.

Agameus looks toward me. "Which means Charlotte may not simply be bait."

"No."

I stare at Rhydon's signature.

"She may actually believe he wants her."

Father's expression becomes unreadable. Erik sets the letter down.

"If Rhydon intends to make Charlotte his Queen, then we have a larger problem."

"We do," Father says.

There is no hesitation in his voice. No attempt to soften what comes next simply because Charlotte is his daughter.

"If she knowingly joins Rhydon while he holds Veylan's throne illegally, she is siding with an enemy of both kingdoms."

The words hurt, but they're true.

"And if she accepts his crown?" I ask quietly.

Father meets my eyes.

"Then she commits treason."

Silence settles over the study. Erik doesn't offer comfort. He doesn't need to. Just a week ago he had been forced to condemn one of his own sons for exactly the same reason. Blood does not make treason something else, it only makes it hurt more. I look down at Charlotte's name written across the folded parchment.

"Then we need to know what she's choosing before we decide we're rescuing her."

Father's gaze sharpens.

"What are you suggesting?"

"Nothing yet."

I return my attention to the map.

"First I see what's actually happening at that watchtower."

Observe first, Caylix says immediately.

Yes.

"If Charlotte is there willingly, we need to know."

"And if she isn't?"

"Then we bring her home."

Father nods once and reaches for the bell. The next several minutes pass quickly.

Captain Hale is summoned. Orders are given without explanation beyond what he needs to know. Three groups of soldiers will leave separately through the eastern passage and take positions around the watchtower. They are not to approach, engage or reveal themselves unless they receive the signal.

By the time Hale leaves, the plan no longer feels like an idea drawn across Father's table. It is happening. Agameus gathers the map and Rhydon's letter while Erik moves toward the door to oversee the soldiers himself.

Father catches my hand before I can follow.

"Your room."

I raise an eyebrow.

"Was that a question?"

"No."

"Apparently Caylix isn't the only man who becomes unreasonable when I have a plan."

I heard that.

You were supposed to.

Father gives me a look, but I squeeze his hand before releasing it. I head toward my chambers with Agameus beside me and Caylix's steady presence wrapped around my mind.

Twenty minutes.

Then I would close my eyes in the safest room in Caelthar… and walk straight into Rhydon's trap without ever leaving my bed.