The Hero's Prophecy* Sequel to "White Silk Scarves*

Adventure Five

Colin's POV:

"What? They got away again?!" Father slammed his fist on the table, causing it to rattle. I stepped back, but not obviously. I'd spent the majority of my life learning not to react when he acted like this, but sometimes, when his face turned redder than the geodes that I had collected on my shelves, I sometimes slipped up.

I forced myself to school my features and lifted my chin, keeping my face cool. "It's alright, father. It's not the first time this has happened, but hopefully it will be the last. We will get them. There's only so many islands in Sea Palm. They can't run forever."

For a split second, my heart wavered. And Ayda appeared in my mind. Just a quick flash of her smiling flickered in my brain, but disappeared just as quickly. Like the waves outside our ship took it sea along with it.

It had been years since we were close, and we'd never be that way again. She and I both saw to that.

I lifted my chin with pride again, except this time it was false. And I only hoped father couldn't tell.

With another slam of his fist, I knew he couldn't. He was too wrapped up in his own fit. He threw aside a lamp my mother spent all Summer making. And I winced, not quite happy he destroyed it, even if mother and I weren't that close.

"No!" The vein on father's forehead protruded and throbbed like it had a conscience of its own. "I'm sick of hoping we'll catch them! It's been five years! And they'd made a mockery of me. Chasing them like a whipped dog and never catching them. Well, no more!"

I folded my arms, a metronome ticking back and forth on his dark mahogany desk as the water swayed outside our window since we were below deck. "And what exactly would that entail? Do you have a plan?"

I shifted from one foot to the other, the only outward sign of my discomfort I dared to show. Despite everything, I didn't like this. Any of this.

But it had to be done.

So I was resigned to do what my father said. No matter what.

Father gave me a shifty glance, before grumbling and pushing the hair on his head back. Which was as black and white as his beard. "You were friends with..." he hesitated. And then when he talked, he spat out the words. Like they were poison. "...that girl once. As much I detested it. You gained her trust. That's what you're going to do again."

I blinked. I opened my mouth, then shut it to a firm line. I stared for a few seconds, until I felt I could go on without getting yelled at for not understanding what he meant the second he said it. "Excuse me, father. How exactly do I do that? Ayda hates me. The second she sees me, she'll run."

Even though I said it, the word hate sat in my mind for a brief few seconds. And the thought of her running when we used to be close, I didn't like much, either.

Father set back his big shoulders, and I couldn't tell if he was angry, frustrated, or both. Most likely both. "With your mother's help, we can do this." Father turned and opened a drawer in his desk, which sent a pencil rolling from one side to the other. The boat rocking caused it to go back the other way. "During your mother's studies and travels, she came across this."

He held out a feather. I lifted an eyebrow. "Uh-I assume it has other properties to it. That it's not just a feather."

Father rolled his eyes, something actually a little childish for a cold man like him. "Shut it, boy. Of course it does. This feather is akin to an Octolite. Octolites emit gasses that do many things."

"Yes," I agreed, eyes not lifting from the yellow feather. "And this is an octolite?"

I knew they could possess any physical object. I reached out my hand to touch it, when father pulled it away with a scowl. "No. I said it's like an octolite. It has an ability that can help us in our mission. While it doesn't have nearly as many uses as an octolite, it does exactly what we need it to do."

Father didn't wait for me to respond. He never did. He set the feather in my hand, despite the fact he ripped it from me not five seconds earlier. Most certainly because he wanted control in every situation.

When the soft feather landed on my skin, I was bit wary. I didn't know what it did. However, father explained. "If you wear this feather on your person, such as on a necklace, or even just in your pocket, you will look different to everyone else."

My eyes widened. They flicked down the mysterious object. "Truly?"

Father nodded, the sound of the ocean outside our boat muffling anything from the outside world. "Yes. Paired with the fact you won't wear anything like you usually do, she shouldn't notice the difference."

I paused, still not sure what father wanted me to do. Even if I did have the ability to do it. Thankfully, he left no story unfinished. He put his hands on his hips, shaking his head with a growl. "We've tried just capturing the girl, but it never works. Even on the few times we kidnapped her directly, she always escaped. And those men by her side saw to it it wasn't for long. So using this disguise, I want you to introduce yourself as a different man. Regain her credence."

This plan was...conniving. And I wasn't certain it could work. I placed the feather down on the desk. "There's no way this could work. Even if I don't look the same, I couldn't even get close to her with Ishmael and Rio around her."

Father's eyebrow irked. I don't think he rather cared for the fact I called Ayda and her traveling companions by their names, rather that by what he called them. And I internally scolded myself, making sure I'd take care so it wouldn't happen again.

Father sat in his chair, pushing up the glasses he wore only in the confines of his study. "I've solved that." He placed the feather right back into my pale palm. "I am going to separate that girl from her partners. Then, when she's all alone, you will find her. Gain her trust. Not only is she a fool on a regular day, but that girl is weak. Take away her support system, and she will crumble."

I fidgeted, and despite my loyalty to father, my stomach burned at the insult he gave her. Not that he could see it. I'd done well to learn how not to show my emotions to anyone.

"Father, what exactly will this accomplish? Even if I gain her trust, what will I do then? Ask her to come to the capital without her friends? Just for the trip of it?"

Father shut me up with a look as fiery as the lantern lit on the wall. "Once you gain her trust, you will gain the others." He shook his head, sighing as if I was the largest simpleton to ever cross his path. However, he looked at everyone like that, so I didn't dare believe it was true. We could not all possess that title. "When the timing is right, we will strike. And her companions, who are usually on high alert, will not see it coming. They will be locked in our dungeons before they could even protest."

My hand twitched, itching to ball into a fist.

I glanced at the feather, rethinking his words. "You said mother found this during her travels. Is that where she's at right now?"

Mother and I weren't very close growing up, but five years ago, after she tricked Ayda and her companions to summon the hero, apparently to get into father's good graces, she and I had started to talk again. And I thought it was going well until she left without barely a letter a few months back. I hadn't received a whisper of a word since.

Was this why? She was looking for this feather for my mission?

I picked it up, knowing I would not protest what father said.

I didn't want to fail him. But far more than that, I didn't want to fail my people.

And if this is what it took, I'd do it.