Chapter 7 The Courier

Edward left the monastery with the book and a heart full of questions. He rode for three days before he reached the first city of any size, a place called Ashford that sat on the banks of the Silver River. It was a bustling town, full of merchants and travelers and soldiers, and Edward felt both relief and anxiety at being among so many people. He had spent most of his life in small villages and isolated farms, and the crowds of Ashford were overwhelming. He found lodging at an inn called The Silver Crown, a three-story building with a sign that depicted a crown floating on water, and he settled into a room above the tavern where he could think in peace. He spent the first evening reading the book Sister Agnes had given him, learning the history of the western kingdom, the story of his mother's family, the rise and fall of dynasties and the blood feuds that had shaped the politics of the region. His mother had been named Isabella, daughter of King Edmund the Third of the Western Isles. She had been married to Gareth of Northgate as part of a political alliance, a union designed to strengthen the bonds between the northern and western kingdoms. But the marriage had been a disaster. Edmund had been assassinated within a year of the wedding, and his brother, a man named Aldric, had seized the throne and begun a campaign of persecution against Edmund's descendants. Isabella had fled to the north, where she had met Gareth, and they had fallen in love in secret, hiding from Aldric's agents who hunted Edmund's bloodline. Edward had been born in secret, raised in the shadows, his mother's identity concealed, his legitimacy denied. And now his father was dead, and his half-brother sat on Northgate's throne, and the men who had killed his grandfather were still active, still hunting, still determined to erase every trace of Edmund's line. He closed the book and stared at the ceiling, his mind racing. He was not merely a bastard seeking recognition. He was the last surviving son of a murdered king, the heir to a throne that had been stolen by an usurper. And he had a crown that could prove his claim, if he could find it and use it. The problem was that the crown was gone. Sister Agnes had told him that it had chosen him, that it had spoken to him and then vanished, but she had not explained where it had gone or when it would return. He had no way to contact it, no way to find it. It was as if the crown had simply disappeared, leaving him with nothing but a book and a destiny he had never asked for. He slept fitfully that night, dreaming of crowns and thrones and faces he did not recognize, and when he woke in the morning he found a note slipped under his door. Meet me at the tavern at midnight. Come alone. — A friend The note was unsigned, written in a hand that was careful but not hidden. Edward stared at it for a long time, his heart pounding. He considered ignoring it, burning it, pretending he had never seen it. But something in him—the same stubbornness that had driven him to seek the crown in the first place—told him that this was important, that this was part of the path Sister Agnes had spoken of. He went to the tavern at midnight. The place was empty except for a single figure sitting in the corner, wrapped in a dark cloak that concealed their face. Edward approached cautiously, his hand on his knife, and stopped a few feet from the table. Who are you? he asked. The figure looked up, and Edward saw a woman's face, young and sharp-featured, with dark hair and eyes that were the color of steel. She smiled, and the smile was both warm and dangerous. My name is Lyra, she said. I am a courier, and I have a message for you from someone who knows your name. Who? That is not for me to say, Lyra replied. But I can tell you this: the Order of the Black Rose is hunting you. They know your name, they know your face, and they are closing in. You have perhaps a week before they find you, unless you can reach the western islands and claim your throne before they do. Edward's hand tightened on his knife. How do you know this? Because I have seen them, Lyra said. I have worked for them, and I have seen what they do to their enemies. I left them because I could no longer bear what I had become, and now I am trying to do what I can to undo the harm I have caused. You are my chance, Edward. Help me, and I will help you. Help you how? Help me destroy the Order from within, Lyra said. I know their secrets, their strongholds, their plans. I can guide you to the crown, and I can help you claim your throne. But I need you to trust me. Edward studied her face, searching for deception, for lies, for anything that would tell him she was not genuine. But he saw only honesty and fear and a desperate hope that mirrored his own. Very well, he said. I will trust you. Lyra smiled, and for the first time it reached her eyes. Then we begin tonight. The note was unsigned, written in a hand that was careful but not hidden. Edward stared at it for a long time, his heart pounding. He considered ignoring it, burning it, pretending he had never seen it. But something in him—the same stubbornness that had driven him to seek the crown in the first place—told him that this was important, that this was part of the path Sister Agnes had spoken of. He went to the tavern at midnight. The place was empty except for a single figure sitting in the corner, wrapped in a dark cloak that concealed their face. Edward approached cautiously, his hand on his knife, and stopped a few feet from the table. Who are you? he asked. The figure looked up, and Edward saw a woman's face, young and sharp-featured, with dark hair and eyes that were the color of steel. She smiled, and the smile was both warm and dangerous. My name is Lyra, she said. I am a courier, and I have a message for you from someone who knows your name. Who? That is not for me to say, Lyra replied. But I can tell you this: the Order of the Black Rose is hunting you. They know your name, they know your face, and they are closing in. You have perhaps a week before they find you, unless you can reach the western islands and claim your throne before they do.