One Day More - a Sartorias-deles fanfic

Chapter 21

The quill under her cloak poked painfully into Iris's skin, but she could do little about it.  A letter from Raec had arrived, inviting her back to the palace for another lesson. Iris had come to the royal grounds on several occasions without Raec's knowledge, just spending time with Joy either in his stall or his pasture.  Sometimes, Iris would talk to the gelding; other times, she would relax against the wall or a tree with a book she had retrieved from the library.  Although Iris was no horse whisperer, Joy seemed to like the human company.

Cetus read her reply over her shoulder, convincing her to change certain words into their more formal synonyms.  Raec would easily be able to tell the writing was written under duress.  She may have maintained a more formal voice in their first correspondence, but their written communications quickly became jovial.  These words now were written from one noble to another rather than a friend to a confidant.  Still, Iris obeyed and sent the letter back to the residence by courier.  Cetus had slapped her wrist away when she chewed at a fingernail.

His final words before she left were "Remember Tobias."

How could Iris forget?

"That anxious to see me that you can't stand still?"

Iris whirled, her yellow skirt catching the air.  Raec bowed at his waist, a twinkle in his eye. She put a hand over her heart. "Don't surprise me like that."

It was the wrong hand to use.  Raec pulled it toward him and traced a finger along the bruise on her wrist courtesy of her father.  The other hand hid the quill under the mantle's long sleeve, so it had not been an option.  Her pale skin, protected all her life from the sun, meant it was sensitive, to both natural light and bruises.  She had always marked easily, even as a child.  Dresses and pants, though, hid any accidental bruises well.

"I caught my arm in a door," Iris said.  Terrible excuse, but it was all she could bring to mind on such short notice. "It's nothing."

"I don't think this was a door."

Iris said nothing.

"What are you hiding?" He rubbed his thumb over the purple mark. "You're poisoned, then you're bruised.  You don't have to be evasive with me."

"I know." Iris's eyes followed his finger. "It'll heal; it's nothing."

Now Alaraec was silent.

"Could we go to the stables now?  I want to see Joy—and Twilight, too." A beat of soundless tension passed between them. "Oh!  I would like to stop by the library first, though.  I have been reading a book to Joy."

Her attempt to divert his attention from her wrist seemed hopeless, as Raec's frown only deepened.

"Come." Iris smiled weakly.

Raec blinked, the dazed gloss leaving his eyes.  He took her elbow and pulled her beside him—not roughly but with some force.  She expected him to lead her through one of the main entrances to the residence, but he escorted her to a stone side of the building instead.  He pressed on a brick—how he knew which one, Iris could not tell—and she heard an echo as the hidden door released.

"Remember Tobias."

Iris wiggled the quill down her sleeve and held the tip between her fingers.  All she had to do was scribble a mark on the wall, and Tobias would be safe.  Her parents were using her own heart against her, Iris knew, but she could never live with herself if her refusal to draw a line cost Tobias in any way.  A line was so simple.  She had her suspicions as to why her parents wanted her to invisibly vandalize the building, but they would never be so reckless as to enter the facility themselves, would they?  Not when they had been exiled already.  Not when they could be imprisoned for doing so.