“Well, that is something.” Chelsa, however, did not sound optimistic and the two sat in heavy silence for some moments.
Soon the rap of boots on stone preceded the return of Serena, who strode across the chamber to Joff and whispered in his ear. When she finished, Joff stepped forward.
“What is it?” Chelsa asked.
“If you and Sir Karigan have concluded your business, then we should take up the matter of her companion.”
“One moment,” she told him. “Sir Karigan? Is there anything more we need to discuss?”
There was much more, and nothing. Karigan carried many secrets, not least of all the existence of a royal heir, and as tempted as she might be to unburden herself, to entrust Chelsa with such secrets, honor prevented her. They were not her secrets to tell, just as she had not told the professor what she knew of the tombs.
It was clear Chelsa could not help her understand the captain’s riddle, or otherwise tell her how to reach home, so she just said, “I would like a little time to commit the captain’s message to memory. I do not wish to chance taking it with me into the outside world.”
“Very wise of you,” Chelsa said with approval.
So Karigan sat there, snuggled in Joff’s cloak, memorizing every word just as she had been trained to do as a messenger. Already her tired mind was trying to unlock the puzzle of the words. Surely the “scything moon” meant the crescent moon that represented Sacoridia and the god Aeryc. But for now, she must put aside meaning and concentrate solely on remembering the words. When she was sure she had it, she returned the written message to Chelsa’s keeping.
“I would now ask that you return to the outer world,” Chelsa said. “Serena will escort you, and after I hear what she and Joff have to say, we will come out.”
Karigan nodded and rose, taking a hard grip on the bonewood. She hoped she would not have to use it in Cade’s defense.
Serena proved a silent escort, and when they reached the portal, Karigan unwrapped the cloak from her shoulders and handed it to Serena. “With my thanks to Joff.”
Serena accepted it with a bow and pushed the portal open so Karigan could exit the tombs into the damp world outside. Would it be her last time through the Heroes Portal? She glanced over her shoulder. Serena had already disappeared back into the corridor. Dash closed the door. Karigan may not care for the tombs, but being within had felt like the closest to home she’d been since being ejected from Blackveil.
Raven nickered, and she went over to give him a pat on the nose. From the looks of it, he had managed to behave. Nothing looked destroyed, at any rate.
“Miss Goodgrave?”
It was Cade, sitting on a log. A Weapon stood nearby speaking quietly with the death surgeon. The other Weapons must be keeping sentry duty in the woods. Karigan strode over to the log and sat beside Cade. Scruffy purred on his lap.
“How are you?” she asked him.
“Head throbs,” he said. Tentatively he touched the back of his head and winced. “I’ve got a nice lump. The mender gave me medicine for the nausea. I’ll live.”
“You have to be careful with knocks to the head.”
“I know.”
“Why were you following me tonight?” she asked.
“The professor asked that I keep watch on you. He was afraid you’d go after the Eletian on your own.”
“As you can see, I did not.”
“No . . .” An expression of awe came over his face once again. “You’re full of surprises. There have been rumors of such an entrance to the tombs, but no one has ever found it. You told the professor you did not know of another entrance.”
“It was not my right to tell him otherwise.”
“Not even to help the opposition?”
“It is not my place to entrust such knowledge to outsiders.”
Cade digested that for a moment, then tried another tack. “I don’t suppose you’d tell me what it’s like in there?”
“No.”
He nodded, and to her surprise, did not press her further. Perhaps he knew there was a very good chance he’d be forced to live out the rest of his days within—for however long that may be. And with Silk’s excavation delving ever deeper. She shivered, both from the damp chill and the likelihood of Silk’s breaching the tombs. She could only imagine what he’d do with all that he found inside.
“The cat is warming your jacket,” Cade said. He tugged it out from beneath the dead weight of the purring Scruffy.
Karigan drew it on. It was not nearly as nice as Joff’s cloak, but it would do. “Scruffy has certainly taken a liking to you.”
“The others,” and he nodded at Dash, “seem to think it has some significance.”
Karigan gazed at the content feline. Were tomb cats discerning about the humans they chose to commune with? All cats were, she conceded, but were tomb cats extra particular? If so, what did it mean that Ghost Kitty kept company with her, except that she provided a soft bed and warm body for him to sleep with?
“What was it that brought you here at this hour?” Cade asked. “This night?”
“I was summoned.”
“Summoned?”
“By my captain. She knew—or someone knew—I’d be here in this future.” Karigan explained how Scruffy had brought her the message, and about the riddle—though not its content—that had awaited her in the tombs.
“You were hoping it would tell you how to return to your own time,” Cade guessed.