Mine to Fear (Mine #3)(4)
Are they really saying this? Is this really leading to what I think it is?
“Your notes sounded like things were hard, but you knew how to handle them. How to help your friends and the other Chardonians. To make things better. Without that, well, sweetie, you now seem to be floundering.”
“Just look at you,” Mom says. “You're already perking up just at the mention of it.”
Guilt pricks me at the fact, that this is what makes me happy and not my parents. Despite that, the drive to help is too strong to pretend otherwise. “What are you both saying?”
“We'll miss you dearly, but if you wish to return, you have our blessing.”
I bounce from my seat and wrap them both in a hug, unable to contain my excitement. “Thank you! Oh, thank you so much. I will do my best to stay as safe as possible. I promise!”
Plans are already forming in my head regarding what I need to pack and do before leaving. I never thought I'd be so happy to return to such a vile place.
“There's just one thing,” Dad says. “We need you to deliver a message to Chadwick.”
“Why Chadwick? Can't I give it to Zade?”
“I thought you'd be happy to have a reason to talk to him.”
I shrug. Interactions with Chadwick are hard enough as it is. What's more, I plain just don't want to interact with him if I don't have to.
“The fact is, Zade is already overworked.” Stress lines Dad's face. How hard is this on him, having Zade, and soon me again, in Chardonia? “Chadwick can do as much, or even more than Zade in some cases, since he's not in the spotlight.”
A message to Chadwick it is. I just don't know how I feel about it.
***
As I'm frantically throwing things into my pack, I'm making a mental note of what I'll need. I can't take much since I have to carry it all, but I should be able to pack the basics. If only the Grand Chancellor hadn't closed the borders, this would be so much easier.
“Going somewhere?”
I whirl around to see Tawny standing in my doorway, hands behind her back.
“As a matter of fact, I am. I'm going back to Chardonia.” I grab an extra pair of shoes and throw them in my pack. “And don't try to talk me out of it like everyone else has done. Zade's already sent three notes telling me not to go, even though he knows better than anyone how desperately I'm needed.” No word from Chadwick, though. I'll have to talk to him at some point.
“I'm not going to talk you out of it.”
“Good.”
“I'm going to try and talk you into taking me with you.” She pulls a pack out from behind her back.
My frantic movements come to a screeching halt.
“You can stop looking like I've grown an extra head,” she says.
That knocks me back into reality. “I don't know. It sort of feels like you have.”
She snorts. “Mom and Dad thought so too.”
“They know and are fine with you coming?”
“I wouldn't say fine.”
I snap my fingers. “Under no circumstances will you be coming with me without their permission. Even with their permission, I can't imagine having to take care of you. You're one of the heirs to the throne.”
“Oh, I have their permission. They just aren't fine with it.”
“Well, that makes me feel better.” Not.
“Please let me do this, Waverly. I need to do more than just sitting through yet another useless meeting. I need to make a difference, too.”
I should probably try harder to dissuade her. Chardonia isn't a place to go on tour, especially not for an heir to the throne. But there's a glint of determination in her eyes. I doubt I could stop her even if I tried. She'd find another way to go, and it wouldn't be with someone who knows what it's like. Besides, if the Queen has given her permission, who am I to argue?
“A two-headed person may be just what I need for this trip,” I say, happy to have a friend along.
“Does that mean I can join you?”
“It does.”
Zade is going to kill me. Serena just might do the same.
Chapter Three
“I understand now why we couldn't bring our trunks.” Tawny is almost out of breath from our journey up the mountainside. Though in all fairness, she's done a fantastic job so far. How does a princess stay in such good shape? From exercising more than I, a non-princess.
“Hard to decide what to bring when you have limited space, though.” I scan the area until I see the rock with an 'S' etched into it. “It's just over here.”
“Thank the Queen.”
“You thank your own mother?”
She shrugs. “People's words rub off on me.”
I stop near the entrance. “You have to promise never to reveal the location of the secret entrance into Chardonia.”
“Of course not. I'm very good at keeping secrets.” I suppose an heir to a country would have to be. “I'll even do the promise spell.”
It's not really necessary. I do trust her, but if she's offering, I'm taking.
“All right then,” I say. I think of a tie, binding us together in this secret, both a physical tie and a mental one. A bond that will keep the secret safe between the two of us. I let the spell out in a soft pink. She reaches out, and we shake hands, the pink spell encompassing our touch. Once complete, I pull my magic back in.