Page 132 of Keldori By Daybreak

He swore back.

Caitria continued to scribble at her paper.

“How did you meet Ferrin?” I asked. “He lived in the mountains, protecting the Quills. But you were with the Firelds on the southern coast. That’s an entire continent apart.”

“He visited when we were both new to the Riftguard,” she said blithely. “The Quills and Firelds tried to meet once a decade or so. He was kind to me, and we were both sorry when he had to return to the Second Sentinel.”

“Were you in love?”

Caitria laughed. “You speak like the naive young thing you are. Why does everything have to be about romance?”

“Were you?” I pressed.

She laughed again, but her brow furrowed and she refused to meet my eye. “The life of a Riftguard is secluded and lonely. We are tied to our Sovereign family, trapped in protected isolation to preserve their bloodlines and the Rift. The Second Sentinel has an entire city. The Fireld Fortress, meanwhile, was only that. A fortress hiding in the underskirts of the New Kingdom. Ferrin was the first person of my age that I met that I didn’t have to bow to.”

“I’ve been lonely too. I didn’t murder children over it.”

“I didn’t murder the Firelds because I was lonely. I murdered them to open the Rift. Ferrin figured out how to project himself as a Nightmare to visit me. It was an unheard of skill, but if anyone was going to figure it out, it was him. He’s more talented than he lets on, and it wasn’t long before he figured out how to project himself into Keldori too. He came to me one night, full of agitation and excitement. He told me about it. I didn’t believe him. Keldori doesn’t have Magicians. We assumed we’d left them in the Dark Ages, but without being able to rely on magick or Magicians as a crutch, it seems your technology has taken off in unimaginable ways.”

“And that’s why you murdered the Firelds? For indoor heating and bad internet service?”

“Keldori is our home.” Caitria slammed her hands against the desk. “Our kind was cast out without a choice. There is nothing wrong with trying to return to where we belong.”

“Except for the part where Magicians were turning into rotsbane in Keldori.”

“Only fools let themselves gorge on enough Skal to turn rotsbane. Those who do, deserve it.”

“And the Nightmares that Ferrin forces to transform? They deserve it too?”

“They got to spend their lives in Keldori. They should be grateful they at least got that much.”

Ciarán nudged at the back of my head, and I let the room and Caitria flicker from view. I stared instead at a line of canvas tents pitched between trees of opal. Soldiers milled in the light of green lanterns, swirling tankards of drink and singing at the sky while I crouched in the shadows of the petrified forest.

“It’s working. Their guard is down and most of them are drunk,” Ciarán whispered in my head. His cowled nose was visible in the bottom frame of my vision. “And I think I know where the Skal is.”

I snapped back into my seat in front of Caitria as she finished her letter with an overly aggressive flourish of her pen.

“Johann,” she called absently and looked up to stare at me. A short man with mousy hair and a long nose scurried into the tent and bowed. With eyes still trained on me, Caitria flicked her wrist and held the letter out. “Take this to Vanderfall.”

He bowed again, took the letter, and hurried away.

“Was that for the Baron?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Were you apologizing for bombing her big tree?”

“I don’t apologize. I simply explained the circumstances of the attack. I’m sure she’ll understand. She’s not very fond of Saergrims lately.”

“Which I personally don’t understand,” a familiar voice called from outside the tent. The canvas flap moved to the side, and Ferrin strode in. “Saergrims are some of my favorite people!”

He walked with confidence and bore no sign of injury despite the flood. I tried to straighten up in my seat the best I could with my hands still bound behind me.

“Bravo, Just-Wren!” He beamed. “I didn’t think you had it in you, trying to drown a canyon full of people. It’s the sort of thing the Baron might do, but you? Who knew you had the bite?”

“Sorry it didn’t work.” I sneered, but Ferrin shrugged off the retort.

“Although, one thing has me concerned. Did my niece agree to that plan?” His brow furrowed as he crouched in front of my chair to be at my eye level. “I can’t imagine her agreeing to something so underhanded.”