Bree
Marcus’s words about the sword rang through my head. And the look in his eyes when he’d said them…
Riggs sat beside me and stared at Tyrez as the turquoise Dragon shifter talked about battle strategies. Although he was quite compelling, my mind continued to spin, and I found it impossible to focus.
Riggs seemed intent on the class, as though Marcus hadn’t just told us that the sword was trouble.
He’d called it Caledfwich.
Have you heard of that sword?I asked Caliel.
I sensed him coiled within my mind, but to my worry, he was sluggish to answer.
The name is familiar, but I am not certain. I was a healer, not a scholar. And I don’t wish to discuss it based on my suspicions.
He sounded even more prickly than usual, and far from helpful. I itched to ditch the class and return to the library. Surely, one of those references would have information on the sword. We now had a name to search for.
But when the class wound up, Riggs let Leah and Nar squeeze past him. A little closer than truly necessary—I was sure Leah’s breast pushed against Riggs’s arm.
Sid climbed toward the exit with us. “There isn’t a late run today—we have Night Games later,” he said. “So we have time to go to the library before supper, if you like.”
“Why are we going there?” Adilyn asked from her perch on his shoulder. “I thought a walk in the woods would be nice.” Her wings fluttered, just a little.
The big Anisau hesitated, and there was an uncomfortable moment where their eyes met. By what I sensed, I figured a walk in the woods with Adilyn—if that was what they would really be doing—trumped the library.
Riggs met Sid’s eyes. “I think Cara will have the information I need. I’ll ask her.”
“That’s a good idea.” I was all for trading hours with our noses in books for a more direct source of information.
The Anisau was clearly torn between the mystery of the sword and Adilyn’s suggestion of a stroll. Which, by her body language as she hovered near his face, confirmed my suspicion about an entirely different kind of exercise.
Did he see it, too? Or were they still dancing around each other?
Riggs met my eyes, and my heart flipped right over. I figured if anyone understood dancing, it should be me.
I scolded myself, and even without my inner grump, decided that I needed more of the cycle powder. Yet I’d had enough of it by now—it should have been working.
Riggs seemed exempt, somehow.
Damned Fate.
I waited for a snide comment from within, but nothing came. The fact my clothes remained a throat-to-toes venture was an indication he was there, though. Just not speaking to me.
“Go for your walk,” Riggs told Sid with an upward twitch of his lips. “I’ll keep you posted on what I find out. We’ll see you at supper.”
That seemed to resolve things. Sid headed down the stairs with an unusually enthusiastic Adilyn flitting around his head, while I followed Riggs to the entrance of the staff quarters.
But when we knocked on the door to Cara’s suite, it wasn’t the Watcher who opened it.
It was Nettie.
With all the craziness that my life had included as of late, she seemed like the most welcomed of surprises. I swept her up in a hug. “Nettie!”
“Hi, Bree!” She turned her focus toward Riggs, and smiled. “You are looking much better than when I last saw you, big man. You even have color in your cheeks.”
“Think that’s dirt.” Riggs glanced past her. “We were looking for Cara?”
“Come in, come in.” Nettie stepped back to make room. “Cara’s gone to check on things at the treehouse. I’ve got to get back to her garden, but there’s no rush.”
