Star wondered what else he had in mind besides reading letters, but reined in her overactive imagination immediately. Although she lay underneath him, she tried to be formal. “Yes, it cannot wait.”
Valen shifted his weight, allowing her to sit up. Star reached into her cloak and brought out the letter. “Do you know of a Fallon Leer?”
The prince’s face fell into grave lines as his features grew too complicated for Star to interpret. His eyes were dark in the shadows. “I do, yes.”
“Here.” She handed him the letter with the broken seal.
“But the seal is broken, you must have—”
“My superior had me delivering secret letters to this man. They were not processed, and so I suspected foul play. It was a decision I had to make.”
“My letter to Vespa went unprocessed. Did you read that as well?”
Star was insulted by his assertion. “No, I certainly did not.”
The prince seemed disappointed and his expression confused her even more.
“But I did see her reaction, and what a reaction it was.” She wanted to ask why he called off the engagement, but it wasn’t her place, so she said nothing more.
“That, I did expect.” He found a candle and set it aflame, bringing flickering light into the room. Holding the letter close to the candlelight, he read silently as Star watched and waited.
“This is serious news indeed,” Valen replied after a long moment of reflection. He looked at her with gratitude. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention.”
Star could tell the letter weighed heavily on his emotions. She wanted to reach out and comfort him, but could not find an appropriate gesture. “It was nothing.”
Valen pocketed the letter. “Once again, you’ve gone above and beyond the call of duty.”
“That’s not all.”
His eyebrows quirked. “Have you saved our kingdom while you were at it?”
Brightening his spirits made Star immensely pleased. “Not quite. But I do have something that just might help.”
* * * *
As Star brought Valen to the parapet, she told him of her struggle with the Elyndra, the breach in the fortress and the spy tunnel. Valen listened, pursing his lips with a wrinkled brow. When he did speak again, it was not what Star expected.
“You should be more careful. Slaying beasts, scaling walls and sneaking into the castle just to deliver a letter to me?”
“It was an important letter. You needed to know.”
“But what if something happened to you?”
He sounded like her mother. A rising strain of frustration boiled in her veins. “Now that you have the information, you can capture the traitor and put an end to this.”
Indeed, Valen had already sent his most trusted soldiers to retrieve the assassin and guard the hole in the garden where Star had resurfaced. Valen made certain to relay the orders before they left for the tower’s edge. Relief already washed over her like a warm bath. Now she knew he would be safe.
Star crossed her arms, wondering why she had to defend her actions to the prince she’d just saved. “I couldn’t chance anyone killing you or the assassin escaping. There wasn’t enough time and I had to make a decision.”
Valen grew quiet, and Star wondered what thoughts crossed his mind. Perhaps he thought her foolish, impulsive or reckless, or a combination of all three. Star couldn’t win this battle no matter what she said.
He put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her on the stone steps leading up to the battlements. “Promise me you’ll be more careful.”
“I can’t promise you anything.”
Her words seemed to sting his soul. Star watched as his face turned from concern to discomfort. She felt guilty for being so harsh but had no response at her disposal. They walked the remainder of the way in silence.
Star found her rope tied exactly where she’d left it hours before, marking where the beast lay. Fortunately, the archer had failed to notice the rope when he returned to his post. She touched the knot and turned to Valen. “Scaling the wall is the fastest way to retrieve the beast.”
Valen looked at her as though she were a wayward child asking to play at midnight. “No, no, no. Why don’t we open the drawbridge and drag it in?”
“And risk that more will come in on the mist? Right into the city?”
Valen inhaled quickly then let out his breath. “You have a point.”
“Besides, the archers can cover me. I’ll climb down, secure the beast and have it up here in a flash.”
Valen’s shoulders moved as if a snake slithered between them. “I don’t like it.”
“It’s too big to be dragged through the underground tunnel, and someone has to go out there to secure its carapace with rope. If we leave it down there much longer, the other Elyndra might come and carry it away.”
“All right. As long as you’ll be careful.”
Star smirked. “I always am.”
Valen shouted for more archers as Star tied a rope around her waist. Once they had ten of the kingdom’s best poised with arrows, he lowered Star down the wall with a blazing torch in her hand. The archers held their bows taut, ready to fire should another beast attack.
Once she hit the bottom, Star tied the rope to the Elyndra’s body, wrapping it around the circumference of the stomach and back several times before tying a triple knot. The strangeness of her proximity to the killer that almost stole her life hours before tickled the hairs on her neck. A few times she swore it moved out of the corner of her vision and threw herself back on her rump just to stare into its dead eyes once again.
“All set.” Star tugged on the rope. “Now, heave!”
She could hear the hefty grunts of several of Ravencliff’s largest soldiers as the rope tightened and they dragged the creature toward the wall. She made sure the knot was secured and the entire body hauled. As the creature’s body hit the wall, Star jumped onto its back, her cape swirling behind her. The men pulled her and the Elyndra up in a series of groans and heaves.
The men’s faces stared in shock as she rose above the rim of the fortress. Of course, the Elyndra captured most of the attention, but she was the heroine who brought it down.
Once over the wall, Star helped them pull the carcass over the ledge. It fell onto the battlements with a thud and a stink that must have wafted all the way back to the castle itself.
Valen told the soldiers to keep their distance as the alchemists slowly approached the dead Elyndra, their experimental tools in hand. As they took specimens to study, Star watched as the Elyndra’s wing changed from sparkling iridescence to powdery dust.
“Look.” She brushed her finger over the powdery wing. The sparkles fell from it to reveal a thin layer of filmy skin. Glitter coated her fingertip.
“Seems like they can’t survive out of the mist.” A senior alchemist peered through thin spectacles at Star’s finger. “They dry out like fish out of water.”
“Then if we somehow can get rid of the mist…”
“We can be rid of them,” Valen finished for her. Along with the alchemist, Star had just provided the answer to everyone’s largest problem.
Star looked to the horizon. “The mist, it flows south.”
“Yes.” Valen leaned over the wall’s edge. “It comes from the north.”
“Why? What produces it?”
Valen squinted as he looked into the unknown. “Weather conditions, perhaps. I’m not sure.”
A sudden urge to act pounded in her forehead. She felt as though they all stared at their own deaths but did nothing about it. “Someone is going to have to find out. Look.” She leaned her arm over the edge. “The mist is much higher than it’s been in the past. It’s rising.”
Valen frowned. “I know. It’s been happening for the last ten years.”
“Then why don’t you do something about it?”
“What?” Valen put his arms out in frustration. “You tell me, what should we do? We’ve been building the wall higher now for decades.”
“You can’t just keep building higher. That’s just denying there is a problem. You need to nip it right at the source.”
“What should we do, Miss Nightengale? Pray for nicer weather?”
Another voice shot through the crowd. “Or build a bunch of ramshackle mist blowers and cage ourselves like frightened animals?”
Star whirled around. She recognized the smoothness of the voice, edged with the deadpan drawl of the outskirts.
Fallon Leer stood before them, a soldier on each arm. Surprisingly he looked complacent, standing straight with his head tilted upward like he owned the world. His eyes flickered under heavy lids, revealing nothing. Star noticed this time he wore a shirt, the black material covering his tattoos.
“That’s enough.” The prince tightened his fists. Star noticed he defended her.
“We’ve captured him, Your Highness.” The soldier on Leer’s right arm tightened his grip. “He was in his house in the outskirts. He appeared to be waiting for someone or something to arrive.”
Leer spoke of his own accord, his accent jovial and light. “So, Prince Valen, we meet again.”
But Valen was not in a mood for conversation. He looked to the guards, ignoring Leer’s devilish greeting. “Take him in for questioning. I’ll join you in a few moments.”
Star’s mind ticked away. So they had met before, Valen and Leer. She wondered how they knew each other.
Leer looked back over his shoulder, and his next words to Valen gave her even more questions to ponder. “What’s wrong? You don’t want to reminisce about old times?”
Star watched as Valen’s gaze followed Leer as he strutted away, guards in tow. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to face the rogue ordered to kill her and then have him mock her in front of her own guards. Personally, she would have spat foul words in his face right then and there, but Valen stood silent. Star wished she had the same poise and reservation. Perhaps if she did, the instance with Zetta would have turned out much smoother. She admired Valen for his diplomacy. The more time she spent at his side, the more drawn she was to him and his subtle ways.
Star reined in her swooning notions by grappling with the situation at hand. At least she’d solved one problem. But something about the direction of the mist tugged at her thoughts, bringing the Elyndra back into question in her mind. Suddenly, it all came together like a drawing that changed meaning when looked at in a different way. The answer was right in front of her. “That’s it. I know now what to do.”
“What are you talking about?” Valen returned his attention to her, his eyes foggy with distant thoughts.
“Someone needs to follow the mist to its source, to find out where it comes from and why. Perhaps it will also bring us to the Elyndra’s lair.”
“And who’s going to do that?” It seemed to Star that, by the sarcasm in his voice, Valen already knew her answer. But she declared it aloud anyway.
“I am.”
Riding Partner
“Miss Nightengale.” Valen stressed her name as they descended the narrow, twirling steps tumbling down to the dungeons. “I’m sure you are aware every journeyman braving beyond the protection of these walls has never returned.”
“I’m not a journeyman. The journeymen looked for other civilizations and lands to colonize. My mission is different. I’m looking for answers.”
“It seems to me what you seek is more intangible than anything anyone has ever looked for.” Valen paused on the steps, taking her by the arm. “Have you considered there aren’t any answers out there? That life is just the way it is?”
Star wanted to speak but couldn’t think of anything to say. The truth was she hadn’t thought about that. She pulled away from his grasp and resumed her descent. “It’s hard to fail, but it’s worse to have never tried,” she called over her shoulder.
The stairway grew darker and Star felt thankful that torches were lit in sconces on the stone walls. Flimsy strands of web draped the walls, wafting up on the breeze she created as she led the way into the bowels of Ravencliff. The floor was dank with grimy sludge, making the footing slippery. Although she didn’t want to touch the thin metal railing, she found it was necessary to hold on to steady her slick steps.
Star could tell from the dual guards posted outside the rotting wood door that Leer’s cell sat at the bottom of the staircase, third on the right. As she approached, she noticed a small, iron-barred window at the top of the door’s arc. Ignoring the men at watch, Star stood on the tips of her toes and peered through. She could see Leer in the corner, sprawled out on a bench, one leg dangling above the floor and the other bent as though he lounged in a tavern. Guards had shackled both his wrists to chains coming from the wall. Eyes closed, he appeared to be resting, seemingly undisturbed by his predicament.
Star turned back to Valen as he caught up to her. “Are you sure you want me in there for the questioning?” Second thoughts about the whole encounter flew through her mind. It was not wise to get involved in Ravencliff’s intricate justice system. However, looking at Valen and the way his eyes beseeched her, she knew she had already enlisted when she’d brought him the letter. In fact, she had committed herself a long time ago, the day her eyes caught sight of Valen in the halls of the inner sanctuary and her heart claimed him as her own.
“Yes, please. I need a witness. You saw the letters exchanging hands. If it’s not too much trouble…”
Star sighed. “All right.”
Valen nodded and the guards opened the thick wooden door with a skeleton key and heaved. The door swung out from the woodwork reluctantly, rusted hinges creaking.
Leer sat up slowly, stretching his tattooed muscles, and smirked. “Greetings, Prince Valen, Miss Moon Hair. Come for a visit? I must say your accommodations are,” he looked around in a sweep of the cell, “less than satisfactory.”
“Leer, I’m not in a mood for your antics right now,” Valen said with authority. “Your life is in serious danger…again.”
“Has the messenger told on me then?” Leer sent Star a stray smile. Unable to meet his sparkling dark eyes and roguish grin, Star looked away.
Valen took a step forward, placing himself between Star and Leer. “I have a letter here from Evenspark, addressed to you, concerning my assassination.”
“Yes, well, I knew that was coming,” Leer replied casually. “Has it occurred to you, cousin, that I was going to intercept it? That I was playing along the whole time?”