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A Revelation
With May came much warmer weather, a fact that was never more apparent than during the long afternoons spent cooped up in the council chambers.
It was stiflingly hot, though I tried my best to keep the discomfort from my face. The meetings had grown much longer in recent weeks as well. With no new clues from Angelo to keep us ahead of the enemy, the mood had turned much more grim, and rightfully so.
I couldn't help but feel that they were all expecting something from me, though I couldn't tell if it was only the paranoia of knowing their vote was steadily approaching and my fate was still laying in their wrinkled, old hands. After all, they hadn't come up with any brilliant ideas to protect the kingdom either.
Still, the pressure seemed to rise with each passing afternoon, each attack that we were unable to prevent.
On one particularly stuffy afternoon, I couldn't help but throw etiquette out the window to fan myself with the paper that I had brought for notes. Beside me, Franco was doing the same.
Across the table, one of the councilmen vented his frustration, though I couldn't be bothered to look up from the spot on the wall that I had been staring at for the past hour to see which it was, "I just don't see how they are doing it! We have been monitoring all of the major roads and waterways for months, and if they were using the skies, we would have picked them up in a scanner by now. It's as if they are ghosts, appearing and disappearing as they please."
The man beside him grunted in agreement, "If I didn't know any better, I would say they are tunneling beneath us."
The entire table chuckled at that, myself among them, but his words seemed to cling in my mind, as if there was some importance there that I just couldn't quite pinpoint yet.
It was absurd. There was no way they could dig themselves routes beneath the kingdom without attracting notice, yet I couldn't shake the feeling that I was on the cusp of something, like having a word on the tip of my tongue.
My eyes trailed to the map displayed across the far wall in thought.
The men continued their chatter, none of it productive, but I tuned it out. As I gazed at the map, I tried not to allow my frustration to grow. The targeted towns were scattered across the kingdom, each so different from one another. If they truly wanted to cull our human population, and bring about a return to the old ways, then would it not be easier for them to wreak their havoc in one concentrated region first, and then move on? Why spread it out so much and take such risks in traveling those distances? Was it some kind of calculated tactic to make the humans feel unsafe in their homes, regardless of where they resided?
It was clever, I had to admit, and more than certainly working. But, as I looked at the seemingly random towns, I couldn't help but feel that there was something more to it.
I had only visited one of the targeted towns personally, but that singular visit would be forever seared into my memories. The burned buildings, the doll lying forgotten in the ash and mud. I had given a speech there, promising retribution for the heinous crimes committed against them, yet months later they were no closer to receiving their justice than they had been on that day. I wished that I still had the optimism that I had felt in that moment, standing before that dazzling river, a mile from the spring the water shot from.
Then it hit me.
The gasp had slipped from my lips before I could stop it. I coughed in an attempt to cover it up, as the attention of the entire room fell on me, but I knew without meeting his gaze that Franco was not convinced. "Excuse me," I murmured to the others anyway, with an apologetic smile. The second they returned to the discussion at hand, I looked back to the map.
It couldn't be...
"Was there something that you wanted to add, Giuliana?" Across the table, violet eyes were boring into me. I held back a wince. The king had noticed my change in energy as well.
"I'm afraid not," I replied evenly, hiding my racing thoughts behind an apologetic smile. Not yet at least. I wouldn't risk another false lead. Before I could tell anyone of the epiphany I had just had, I needed confirmation, and I would not allow Angelo an opportunity to dodge my questions. Not with such a huge revelation on the line.
I knew what I would have to do, what I would have to offer, but was I ready to follow through with it? The flutter of excitement at the thought was sign enough alone that I had already given too much to the unforgiving bond, but how much more could I get away with before I lost all of the self-control that I had spent a lifetime building?
My foot tapped away my impatience as the meeting continued to drone on around me. I felt Franco's gaze like a weight against the side of my face, but I ignored it. I ignored the entire rest of the meeting, in fact, the majority of it useless repetition of the same information we had been going over for weeks without any new leads. I was unable to tear my gaze from the map.
If I was correct, then it had been right under my nose the entire time, so unexpected that no one had even considered it until me. Even I was still skeptical, but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed to fit.
When my father finally called an end to the meeting for the day, both he and Franco still shooting me curious glances, it was all I could do to refrain from loosing a loud sigh of relief that would only draw more attention my way.
I shot from my chair before anyone had a chance to ask me any questions, and raced from the room. I knew that my actions did nothing to diffuse the suspicion I had aroused, but I was past caring. I nearly took the servants corridor as an extra precaution, just in case Franco attempted to chase me down to demand an explanation for my unusual behavior, but decided against it. It was a busy hour in the castle and the last thing I needed was to give the maids anything more to gossip about.
Even so, I couldn't resist taking the stairs two at a time on my way to my rooms, several floors above the rest of the royal chambers. Once there, I didn't slow down, entering the bedroom and bending low to pull a small chest from underneath my bed. I crossed to my bookshelf and pulled out an old, beat up copy of The First Shift, flipping through the pages until I found the little key that I had stashed there, deep outline imprinted into the pages from the many years of being used in such a manner.
Inside the chest was a multitude of items I had collected over the years to hide from prying eyes, but I was not there to reminisce. I pulled out the violet bandana, the one from the very first note Angelo had left for me at the willow tree. I nearly ran to the window, throwing it open to peer around the dark stone of the exterior of the castle. Swearing under my breath, I settled for closing the material into the window itself. I only hoped that a maid wouldn't notice it and remove it from its spot. And that Angelo would see it, and know that I needed to speak with him urgently.
Angelo...
I remembered that day all of those months ago, when I had only just discovered his ties to the Blood Fangs. I had been trying to pry information out of him, but he had chosen instead to strum his guitar, despite my not-so-subtle annoyance at his refusal to answer. But, had he actually been giving me a hint in his own irritating fashion? If he was, then this clue was the most aggravatingly vague and easy to miss of them all, but it had been given before our deal to exchange information. Before he stood to gain anything from it.
So, why had he done it? Was it a test– were they all tests? To see if I could piece together something from almost nothing? What did it matter to him if I could solve riddles or bust a mining company? Was there something he hoped to gain, or was it all for his own endless amusement?
I turned and strode from the room.
If there was one thing I knew, it was that if I left the castle grounds, then Angelo would inevitably find his way to my side as he always inexplicably did. Like a moth to flame, regardless of whether he spotted my bandana in the window or not.
Angelo would come to me.
And I would get some answers.
~*~*~
Any predictions on just what it is that she figured out?
Any guesses on what she's going to offer him for the information?
Let me know what you think!
Also, hello and welcome to all of the new readers, your feedback is really so appreciated. You are all amazing <3 This story is only going to heat up from here, so stay tuned for more!
I'm going to be updating this story every Friday, but once I get a bit more ahead on the writing it could become more frequent. I'm really excited to show you what I have in store!
Xx Ren