A Court of Shift and shadow

XXXIV

Katies POV: 

"Tamlin at least had his papers organized." My mother said, mowing one of the piles to the side. "This is just invitations to different things. Balls, meetings... The oldest one is before the Wall fell."

"That means that we have hundreds of years of things to go through" I said back, the second pile was notes of the treasury inventory. "You have a lot of fortune to use at least."

"Look..." Caspan was standing at the bookshelves "Notebooks... Hundreds of them..." I had never looked at so many note books before. Slowly taking one out and opening it. The handwriting was familiar...

"He wrote down everything..." The date was 40 years before Amarantha came... "Mother above... Everything..." Day by day, what he did, ate, trained... I took out a different book it started one year after the first.

"One for each year..." Mother said... counting them. "We cant destroyed them..." She picked out one... flipping through the pages.

"But we cant have them here..." Caspan responded. "This one is of the year the wall fell." I took the book and found Feyres name. Written over and over again, the date indicated that it was after she had been taken to the Night Court.

"This is sickening..." I said, puting the book back. A gasp came from mother.

"This... This is the year that..." She dropped the book. Walking out from the room. Caspan followed her, and I piked the book up. First it was happy words, about my mother passing one of the milestones, then words of securing the bourders, not letting anyone come close to hurt her. Page after page, from the borders, to the courtyard, to the door, windows... And then...

I failed, she died, Katie will be safe.

His words must have been written moments after her escape. No words of sorrow followed. Nothing that indicated that he thought of her after that. And nothing that showed that he cared about me. Not in the first five years... I left the book and walked out. Reaching out for Galad, hoping things didn't go to badly in the camps. I found them out in the courtyard, my mother crying, Caspan holding her.

"We can't destroy them..." He said looking at me. "Are they any value for you? Any information that can be good to know?" For a moment I was back in my roll of spy, analysing...

"We have been getting indications that something is happening in Hybern, and Tamlin was the only one that we knows who had contact with them. This books can help us. But then I need to take them to the Night Court."

"How bad is the Hybern stuff?" Caspan said. "And why didn't you tell me sooner?" The break was over.

"Bad... Az has lost contact with one spy, the last report was that they are mining Faebane again. But we have pulled back everyone, trying to regroup... When I got the letter that he was close to death." I sighed, dragging my hand through my hair. "We are unsure on how to proceed. Az don't want to send in more spies, and I... I was selfish and needed to take a break..."

"That is bad... And troublesome. But I understand..." Caspan responded, "And I think we all shall take a break from that room now..."

"You can go, I will continue." I said, "I can't get any rest now anyways." I needed to read the last notebooks, and see what conations he had with Hybern, if he knew anything.

"Are you sure?" Mother said "It can be draining reading those books..."

"I know, but if I don't, I will not be abel to rest." I said back. My mother just looked at me, worry played in her eyes.

"Katie, are you sure?" She asked again.

"Yes, now fly, take a walk." I left them and walked back inside. Stretching out a mental arm to Galad hoping everything went well...