After today, it’s clear.
I cannot stay here. I can’t keep doing this, playing the castle games, struggling against impossible odds.
As I stand there, broken in body and spirit, the decision crystallisesin my mind.
I have to leave.
I’ll figure out what to do about my village friends later, but right now, I need to get out of this place.
What about Rylan’s deal?a niggling voice spears into my mind.
Whatabouthim?
Rylan brought me here, but he’s gone, leaving me to fend for myself. If that’s how it’s going to be, then he’s on his own. Just as I’m on mine.
And it’s time to act like it.
I manageto tidy myself up and drag myself to the dining hall. Luckily, Doran sees me as I walk in and waves me over to the empty seat next to him. Over the course of the meal, we become fast friends, talking about our homesickness and a shared love of reading. Long after the plates have been cleared away and the king and queen have left, Doran and I sit chatting and chuckling over a shared glass of wine as he gives me encouragement over my training. I feel more at peace than I have since I first arrived. And I’m about to tell him so when Caelum stomps past us, his usually cheery face marred by frustration.
“Hey! Do you two know anything about riddles?” he asks, plopping down in the vacated seat next to me.
“Aren’t you afraid the crown prince will beat you up for talking to me?” I taunt him.
“No, Stumpy. And not just because he’s not here,” he grins. “Now, can you help me with this or not?” he says, waving a piece of parchment. “It’s just the most devious puzzle I’ve ever encountered. And I’ve encountered a lot.”
I can’t help but raise an eyebrow. It’s well known in the castle that Caelum is notoriously fond of and good at puzzles—his mind works in ways that leave most people in the dust. For him to be stumped by one? That’s rare. Luckily for him… I’m no slouch at them either. The joy of puzzles was another love fucking Samfer passed on to me.
“What’s so hard about it?” I ask, genuinely intrigued.
Caelum slaps the parchment dramatically. “I’ve been at it for hours, and I can’t crack the key.”
Doran holds his hands up in surrender, but I reach out for it. “Let me see.”
He hands it over with an exaggerated sigh, clearly expecting me to be as stumped as he is. I look down at the parchment, and it’s more complex than I expected. Symbols arranged in rows, interspersed with numbers and letters. At first glance, nothing aligns perfectly, but something about it feels… deliberate.
I stare at the puzzle, my mind working through the possibilities. There’s an old method used in complex codes—a layering technique where the key isn’t in the letters themselves but the spaces between them.
“It’s a cipher, but not a simple one,” I murmur, flipping the paper upside down. “It’s a multi-layered code.”
Caelum blinks, leaning in closer. “What?”
I point at the first row of symbols and numbers. “Look, you need to use the numbers as a key to shift the symbols first, and then they correspond to the alphabet. But the letters are scrambled in reverse order.”
His eyes widen as he watches me work through the code in my head.
“I’m pretty sure the answer is, er, let me see,‘Thrice blessed,’” I say, handing the parchment back to him. “Whatever that means.”
Caelum stares at me, his eyes wide. “I know what it means, but… how did you figure that out so quickly?”
I hesitate, the memories surfacing, uninvited. “My, er, guardian, liked puzzles,” I say, my voice quieter. I refuse to say his name out loud. He’s part of the reason I’m stuck in this mess, after all. “He liked to test me sometimes.”
Caelum looks at me for a moment, like he’s trying to understand more, but instead, he lets out a low whistle. “Well, remind me never to challenge you to a riddle contest.”
I stand up from the table with a chuckle. “Maybe you’re not as clever as you think.”
He laughs, shaking his head. “Oh, no, I’m exactly as clever as I think. It’s just that you might be cleverer.”
I don’t respond, but as I take Doran’s offered arm as we walk away, I let the smallest smile tug at my lips. I’ll take any win I can right now.
