Chapter 8: Love Letters and Lesbians

 

 

THE FIRST time I went to Castle Freesias, I was sixteen years old.

The year before, when I’d initially met Randall, I’d turned his nose into a dick, because they were pretty much all I thought about. It hadn’t helped that he’d had to officiate at a wedding the next day and couldn’t figure out a counterspell.

He’d pretty much hated me for a long time after that.

But if Morgan had been telling the truth, he’d also been begrudgingly impressed.

So when Morgan had taken Gary, Tiggy, and me to the North, I was, of course, terrified. Randall, after all, was the wizard of all wizards. He was the one who decided who was put through the Trials, the secretive process that all apprentices were required to complete before becoming full-fledged wizards. He oversaw them too, and it was his decision whether said apprentices passed.

He didn’t pass many people. Or so I’d been told. The Trials hadn’t been held since long before I was born, as wizards were few and far between. It was easier to go the way of the Darks. The rules weren’t as stringent, there wasn’t anyone to tell you that no, you couldn’t do what you wanted with your magic. It was darkly seductive, and while I would never agree with the path they’d chosen, I could see why. You wouldn’t be beholden to anyone. You didn’t need a cornerstone, a person you had to depend on. You didn’t have to jump through hoops that were laid out in front of you seemingly at random.

And there was no one to keep secrets from you.

But I was sixteen years old. I didn’t know anything about secrets then. At least none that mattered.

So when we arrived at Castle Freesias that first time, the only thoughts on my mind were that Morgan was marching me toward my doom and that I’d probably never see the City of Lockes ever again.

It hadn’t helped when I saw the glittering castle made of ice looming in front of us, the tops of which disappeared into low-lying clouds, fat with the promise of an imminent storm. The snow crunched under my feet, the mountains rose like gods around us, and I really wanted to be anywhere but where we were.

“I have a good idea,” I said nervously. “Let’s turn around and go home.”

“I have to agree,” Gary said. “Do you know what this cold is doing to my skin? I’m probably as dried and cracked as a dried-out crack addict.”

“There, there,” Tiggy said, running his thick fingers over Gary’s neck. “Pretty Gary not cracky Gary.”

“Thank you, my love,” Gary said. “It’s good to be appreciated, no matter where we are. Sam, you would do good to remember that. I always need to be complimented when we go someplace new. You know I have a very fragile sense of self.”

“You look super awesome,” I said. “Your scarf makes you look like you aren’t being wind-raped.”

Gary preened. “It does, doesn’t it? The gods only know there is nothing worse than arriving someplace new, not receiving a compliment, and having wind-rape hair. I am so glad I remembered to pack twenty-seven different scarves. It just wouldn’t do to be caught wearing the same one two days in a row. I mean, could you just imagine the scandal?”

No, I couldn’t, but I nodded dutifully before turning back to Morgan to give him the ol’ Look-How-Precious-Sam-Is big eyes, sure that I could convince him to turn us right around and go home.

Unfortunately for me, Morgan proved to be impervious in the face of my awesomeness. It was the bane of my existence. “Keep walking,” he said, sounding amused.

“Godsdammit,” I muttered under my breath. “You never let me do anything.”

“Yes, yes. Your life is so hard. Whatever was I thinking.”

Randall, of course, was waiting for us at the entrance to the castle, like a creeper. His arms were crossed over his chest, and there were flecks of snow in his beard.

“It’s about time,” he said, ignoring me completely. “Get inside before I leave you out here as a penance for your dillydallying.”

Dillydallying, I mouthed to Gary, who rolled his eyes.

“I saw that,” Randall said.

“Eep,” I said and tried to think about anything but penises.

 

 

I’D BEEN back a handful of times after that as I got older, always at Randall’s request.

Each time he’d been waiting for me at the entrance.

This time, though….

“…aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAHHHHHH!” I shrieked as we snapped into existence in front of the legendary Castle Freesias.

My feet hit the ground, and I stumbled forward.

And immediately vomited onto the snow.

We’d eaten mutton the night before.

It wasn’t the best idea.

“No offense,” I said, wiping a string of bile from my lips, “but your method of travel really sucks my nuts.”

“Maybe you should just have a stronger constitution,” Randall pointed out.

“Great. This is going to be just great.”

Randall ignored me, which was probably the best way to deal with me. He headed toward the entrance to Castle Freesias, leaving me no choice but to follow.

The snow was thick on the path that led to the castle. Every step I took, I sank into the snow just up to my knee. It was slow going, but there were shots of blue in the bone-white clouds above, and it wasn’t as cold as I expected it to be. Now if only I could reconcile the present company, I’d be doing just fine.

Castle Freesias was… old. It was one of the few structures left in Verania that still held legendary status. Castle Lockes was one. I suppose if more people knew of the former castle where Zero currently resided, that would be another. Time hadn’t been kind to a lot of the old ways, the progressive march into the future aggressive and inflexible. We were living in an age of machines where much of my birthright—this magic I contained—was passing more into legend than fact. The days when wizards had been commonplace were rooted firmly in the past. It had been the age of Randall, and partly Morgan. I thought maybe Myrin’s betrayal had been the reason for the downfall even if he’d been erased from the mind of Verania.

But Castle Freesias had been here a long time. I’d found mentions of it going back centuries but never read anything about a town that might have surrounded it. There was nothing around the castle aside from the mountains and trees and snow, no ruins that could have signaled that this place had once been like the City of Lockes. I didn’t think Randall had made this place. I thought it was before even him.

It was made entirely of ice, a cold, clear blue that shone brightly in the rare sunlight. It was smaller than Castle Lockes but far more forbidding, especially given its surroundings. Inside were many bedrooms and washrooms, a large kitchen and dining hall. There were labs much like Morgan and I had, and a throne room that was rarely used. There was a library, but I’d never been inside. Certain rooms were… off-limits. Morgan had told me of them before we’d ever stepped foot inside the castle.

“You mustn’t attempt to gain entry to the library by any means,” Morgan had said one night when the Northern Mountains had just begun to appear on the horizon. Gary and Tiggy were snoring away, and Morgan and I sat on either side of the fire, the flames crackling between us. “Nor any other room that has been sealed.”

“Why?” I asked, being contrary because I was a sixteen-year-old asshole. “It’s a library, Morgan. You know how I feel about libraries.”

“I do,” Morgan said with a grimace. “You feel the need to touch everything.”

“It’s a sickness. I regret nothing.”

“There are some things that aren’t meant for you,” he said, and I could see by the dire look on his face that this wasn’t to be negotiated. “It’s a great honor to be summoned to Castle Freesias. We must respect the boundaries that Randall sets forth.”

And I had each time, though my curiosity burned through me, bright and consuming. It made more sense now, given everything I’d learned, but it only made the curiosity an inferno.

It also made things worse now. Because I could imagine what must be hidden behind those doors and how it related to Myrin. Castle Freesias had always felt haunted. But until now, it’d never felt like a tomb.

We stopped in front of the entrance, and Randall pressed a hand against the frozen door. A bright light pulsed under his palm, shooting off across the ice in lined patterns, intrinsically complex. There was a deep groan from somewhere inside, and a lock clicked. The lights under Randall’s hand faded, and he pushed it open. The door scraped against the snow and ice, causing a low screech that crawled along my skin. Birds sang in the trees, and there was the briefest of moments when I thought I heard the smallest of whispers at the back of my mind—

wizard

—but it was gone before I could latch on to it. I couldn’t feel Kevin. Zero was long gone. I looked over my shoulder, scanning the tree line.

There was nothing there.

I still felt watched.

I hoisted my pack up higher and followed Randall inside.

 

 

“YOUR ROOM is ready for you,” Randall said as we stood in the entryway. The castle looked as it always had, cold and dark and dank. Torches were lit along the wall, but the ice around them never melted. “There’s a fire going in the fireplace. The wardrobe has your clothing from the last time you came. You haven’t grown much, so it should still all fit.”

“I’ve grown plenty.”

“If that’s what you must tell yourself. Every morning, we shall meet in the labs promptly at eight. If you do not eat beforehand, that’s your problem, not mine. You will bring your Grimoire and be ready to learn.”

I cringed at that, seeing as how much I’d neglected it as of late. I’d barely even made entries on the sand mermaids and almost nothing about the desert dragon. Randall was going to find much to fault me with when he looked. Maybe I’d get time to catch up before he saw it.

“We will break for lunch midday, depending upon where we are with training, for half an hour. We shall have our evening meal together in my study. This will not deviate unless I tell you it will, or if certain circumstances arise.”

“Certain circumstances?”

He gave me a bland look. “With you, I find that there is always the potential for certain circumstances.”

I grinned at him. “You flatter me.”

“I do nothing of the sort. Trust me, you would know if I had. Do you have any questions on the schedule?”

“Are we doing this every day—”

“Good,” he said. “No questions. Today will be a day of rest, as my particular form of travel tends to leave me feeling somewhat depleted. I’m not as young as I used to be, you know.”

“Oh, I know.”

His bushy eyebrows twitched. “I regret this already.”

“We could always go back.”

“Hardly.” Then he took a step toward me, his robes scraping along the ice on the floor. I stood my ground, struggling against the need to take an answering step back. “We have much work to do and much to discuss, you and I. I suggest you use the remainder of today to get your stories straight so that if I require answers, you have them readily available, and only the truth. I will not accept anything less from you, Sam of Wilds.”

“Then I expect the same in return,” I said, sounding braver than I actually felt. It was one thing to smart off to Randall; it was another to do it alone in Castle Freesias where no one could hear me scream.

He paused. Then, shockingly, “Fair.”

“It is?”

“You aren’t a child anymore, no matter how much you tend to act like one.”

“Thank you? I think.”

“I don’t have time for games.”

“I know,” I said. “It’s part of your craggy charm.”

“I don’t have time for charm.”

“Back in the day, apparently. Or so you’ve said before.”

His eyebrows twitched again. “Back in my day, we didn’t have need for charm. We were blunt and honest, and it still got me what I needed. They were the Epperson Twins, and I had just turned ninety-seven. I was young and able to achieve erections at the drop of a hat—”

“Oh no,” I whispered in abject horror. “What have I done?”

Because he was old as fuck, I stood there, in the entrance hall of Castle Freeze Your Ass Off, listening in mounting disdain as he recounted yet another story of his youth that was disgustingly and brutally descriptive, and yet again, I found myself knowing more than I ever wanted to about the great wizard Randall.

Not for the first time, I wondered what had happened after all that. When he’d met the man who would become the love of his life for the first time. The man who would become his cornerstone, and whose cornerstone he had become in return. The man who would end up falling into the dark.

That was the first moment I began to see Randall for something more than an antagonistic elderly person who held the keys to my future in his hand and a noose around my throat.

I didn’t like it one bit.

 

 

I DIDN’T see Randall for the rest of the day.

I put my pack in my room, hearing it thunk weirdly on the ice as I set it on the floor near the large sleigh bed against the wall. I opened it, not knowing what could have made that sound, and saw a square wooden contraption set near the top. Ruv’s sand sailboard. In all the commotion, I’d forgotten that he’d somehow put it in the pack before we left Mashallaha. I didn’t know why he’d given it to me, and wondered what possible use I could have for it.

But it was soon forgotten when I saw a folded sheet of parchment tied onto the cloth sail with a piece of string. That hadn’t been there before. I would have seen it.

I plucked it from my pack and unrolled it. A little folded sheet of paper fell from it, but I ignored it as my heart stuttered in my chest at the sight of the familiar tight scrawl that lined the parchment. I didn’t know when he’d had time to write this or hide it in my pack. That devious bastard.

 

Sam,

You probably are wondering when I could have been such a devious bastard to be able to write this or hide this in your pack.

 

“Dude,” I said fondly. “You are so awesome.”

 

You’re sleeping now, and the light is barely coming above the horizon. I’m sitting at the desk in a gay brothel about to write you a love letter, which is something I never thought I’d ever put down on parchment, but then a majority of the things that happen with you are things I never thought would happen to me.

 

“That’s because I make your life amazing,” I chided him softly. “And you watched me sleep? Man, that is so creepy.”

 

And no, I’m not watching you sleep, so you can get that out of your head right now.

 

“Well played, Knight Delicious Face.” I wiped my eyes before continuing.

 

You’re leaving my side in a few hours, and even though I know in my heart it’s the right thing to do, it scares me more than it did when I awoke to the sound of lightning in Mashallaha to find your side of the bed empty. In case you hadn’t noticed, when we’re apart, you tend to get yourself into trouble.

 

“That… is sort of true.”

 

I need you to listen to me now, okay? Just in case I didn’t say it enough last night or if I don’t say it enough later this morning. Sam, I need you to take care of yourself. I need you to be okay. I need you to stay alive, and healthy, and whole. I cannot lose you. After everything we’ve been through, I cannot lose you. So even though there may be part of you that is reckless, that thinks to yourself that you can do this all on your own, please don’t. Wait for us. Wait for me.

I know you’ve kept things from me. I know there are things about this whole… destiny thing that you haven’t told me. You’re not as good at keeping secrets as you think you are. I may not know exactly what you’ve hidden from me, but I know it’s there.

 

“Well, fuck,” I muttered.

 

I know there are bigger things at play than just you and me. And I know there is so much hanging over you right now. But I saw the look on your face, Sam, when you were told of how potentially long your life could be in comparison to my own. To that of Justin and the King. To your parents’. And even though we haven’t had a chance to discuss it like we should, I know how much that hurt you. How much it probably scares you.

Sam, you are the greatest wizard I know.

 

“You only know a couple of wizards,” I said with a sniff.

 

I know I only know a couple of wizards, but it wouldn’t matter if I met every single one that ever existed, I would still think the same.

 

“Touché. You asshole.”

 

And I promise you this: even knowing everything I know now, even with all that has come toward us, if I had to do this all over again, I would choose you. Every time, I would choose you. Life isn’t defined by how long it is. It’s the moments you have while you’re alive. And even if I age and you don’t, or if something were to happen to one of us before the other, I have been filled with so many moments between you and I (don’t make that dirty, I’m trying to be sweet) that I have lived a thousand lifetimes since I was a fucking asshole mothercracking jerk and waited until I was getting married to someone else to tell you how I felt. And I know that I’ve felt this way, in some way shape or form, since that day in the alley, even if all I wanted to do back then was beat the ever-loving shit crap stuffing out of you.

These are the moments I cherish, because I cherish you.

Don’t do anything stupid. And get that look off your face I know is there right now because I just said that. I’m being serious. DON’T DO ANYTHING STUPID.

 

“We might know each other a little too well,” I said with a frown.

 

Everything will be all right. I’m coming for you. Even as you read this, I’m coming for you.

(Don’t make that dirty either. I’m not doing impressions of Kevin.)

 

I laughed. It sounded a little hoarse.

 

So just hold on a little while longer, okay? Listen to Randall (DON’T MURDER HIM!!!!!). I’ll be by your side again before you know it.

And after I let you fuck me stupid (and I’m going to leave that as is, because “let you mothercrack me stupid” sounds terrible, and sometimes I really dislike that fact that you won’t let me cuss. I AM A GROWN FUCKING MOTHERCRACKING MAN), you and I are going to have a long talk about everything. All cards on the table, okay?

Because that’s what it means to be a cornerstone, Sam. I’m not only here to help you build your magic. I am here to help you carry your burdens, to make them my own so that you know that you’re not alone in this.

So.

Be good.

Stay safe.

I love you.

Ryan Foxheart.

PS: Found this in our room before we left Castle Lockes. Thought you might need a little reminder. Keep it safe, because it’s one of the first times in my life that I allowed myself to hope for something more.

RF

 

At first I thought something was missing. And then I saw the little scrap of paper that had fallen to the floor. My eyes stung as I bent over to pick it up, and even though I’d just parted from him mere hours ago, I felt Ryan’s absence keenly.

I snagged the paper, picking it up and unfolding it. When I saw what was written on it, I laughed until my sides hurt. Of course he would find this. Of course he would know I’d kept it. And I had, because it was one of my most precious treasures, however odd that might have been.

On it were thirteen words that meant more to me than most anything else I owned. A corner had ripped—an accident—and the paper had been creased so much that I worried it would one day tear. But today was not that day. I read the words again and again and knew that I would do everything I could to make sure Myrin never took this away from me.

The thirteen words?

 

To Mervin:

Don’t worry.

I’m a Sam Girl too.

Our secret?

Ryan Foxheart.

 

 

RANDALL LIVED alone in Castle Freesias, and I thought now it was more because he had exiled himself here rather than out of any need for an icy fortress of solitude. I didn’t understand it, necessarily, but the picture I had of the man Randall was coming into more startling clarity. This place was a tomb, but it was a living one, in that Randall haunted the hallways. I’d asked Morgan once what Randall did up here in the mountains all day every day.

“He exists,” Morgan had said.

I hadn’t understood that before. And maybe I still didn’t, not completely. There was no way in hell I’d ever ask Randall about it, because he’d probably light my skin on fire, but the curiosity was there. The rooms that were sealed—particularly the library—held new meaning for me, and I wanted to know what he had hidden away behind the doors.

Even with all he’d been through, with all he’d done, I didn’t quite get how he could live up here all by himself. Maybe it was because I was a social creature and needed the safety of others around me, but the thought of becoming a recluse made my skin crawl. I wondered if Morgan would follow him up here one day, after I passed the Trials and became the King’s Wizard. If they would be two old men bound together by the memory of the man who’d betrayed them.

Granted, in order for that to happen, I had a shit-ton of work to do.

Collecting dragons, stopping villains.

My life was strange.

The ice of the castle creaked ominously as I left the kitchens, gnawing on some slightly chilled bread that had been left atop the fireplace. This was probably as good as it was going to get when it came to food. We didn’t eat here like we did in Castle Lockes, but it was still better than when I’d been in the slums. Barely.

I made my way back to my room with the intention of opening my Grimoire and trying to make some headway so that when tomorrow came and Randall asked to see it, the disdain would be somewhat diminished.

That was the plan.

The problem with having plans to do what essentially amounted to writing in a diary (which, those first pages when I started the Grimoire were extraordinarily cringe-worthy, as there were pages where MRS. SAM FOXHEART was written in the corners, surrounded by little hearts and squiggly lines—but hey, it all worked out, so dream big, kids!) is that sometimes gods feel it necessary to appear in the ice.

My life.

I was crossing the grand foyer just inside the entrance to the castle on my way back to my room. The foyer was large, with a double staircase that led to the upper levels of the castle. There were roaring fires on either side of the room, and it lessened the biting chill. A crystal chandelier hung above us, grand and ornate and probably older than fuck. I eyed it as it swayed from side to side as I entered the foyer, mouth full of dry bread, thoughts on how badass I should make myself sound when writing about my desert adventures (and coming to the decision that I wouldn’t need to embellish because I had been super badass). Before I could make my way across the foyer to the hallway on the opposite wall, there was a loud crack.

I stopped, ready to run in case Castle Freeze Your Ass Off was about to come crashing down around me, sure I’d see the wall of ice with a split down the middle. I had the brief thought that this whole thing had been a trap, that Randall had brought me here, locked me inside, but that disappeared as soon as I saw a spark of blue light shoot through the wall like a falling star.

I watched as more and more lights began to fall, and sighed as I chewed, knowing exactly what this was. I wasn’t looking forward to it, especially given how our last conversation had gone, what with him predicting death and burning and blah, blah, blah.

But apparently how I felt didn’t matter to the gods, because one formed in the ice wall before me, made of twinkling stars.

David’s Dragon.

“Hullo, Sam,” the star dragon said.

“I just saw you,” I groused, not giving two shits that he could probably smite me where I stood. I was cranky, I missed my friends and my boyfriend, I was cold and stuck in a tomb with the oldest person alive who didn’t understand that eyebrow maintenance was a thing that normal people partook in. “Whatever dire thing you want to tell me now can wait. I’m eating cold bread for dinner. Cold bread. It tastes like sadness.”

The dragon didn’t look moved at my plight. “Time has no meaning to a god.”

“Yes, well, bully for you. I have to go write in my dia—I mean, my Grimoire, so if we could make this quick, that’d be great.”

“You survived Meridian City. This pleases me.”

I rolled my eyes. “No shit. Thanks for the heads-up, by the way.”

“We do not—”

“Interfere. I know. You’ve told me before. And then you also told me that you hoped I won and that someone would die but that you wouldn’t say any more. So forgive me if I don’t give two shits if you’re pleased.”

“You’re a mouthy little thing, aren’t you? One would think a god would have garnered a tad bit more respect.”

I winced. “Yeah, okay. I deserved that. But you gotta admit this whole thing is a shitstorm.”

The star dragon shrugged. “Eh.”

“Eh? That’s what you’re going with? Eh? That’s it. When this whole thing is done and over with, I’m going full-on atheist. You hear me? Once I kick Myrin’s ass and get my happily ever after, you don’t exist to me. At all.”

“Just because you don’t believe in us doesn’t mean we don’t believe in you.”

I gaped at him.

He stared back at me.

“You asshole,” I said. “Why do you have to make me have feelings? That was dirty pool, you dick.”

“I come,” the star dragon said, “with a warning.”

I sighed. “Of course you do. Fine. Go ahead. Hit me with it.”

“Ooooo, hear me now, Sam of Wilds. The dark man in shadows is moving. His plan has changed. His fingers stretch over the surface of the world, and in his blackened heart, he looks to the consumption of magic to—”

“Hold up,” I said. “Let’s curb the theatrics for a moment. I know about the whole magic-eating thing already.”

“Noooo you doooooon’t,” the star dragon said. “You’re hearing it for the first time from me. Lo and behold! For I bring you tidings of great warning.”

“Legit, you are telling me something I already know.”

The star dragon deflated. “Dammit, I thought that would work. Why can’t you be more susceptible? Humans are normally so stupid when it comes to the gods. I regret this. I regret this whole thing.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I don’t quite have the specifics behind it yet.”

“Strangely, no, that doesn’t make me feel better.”

“Oh. Well. Sucks, dude.”

“I can’t give you the specifics.”

“Right. Because of the whole impartiality thing. Which you guys aren’t very good at.”

His starry eyes widened. “Oh! I know something you don’t.”

“That’s… kind of a given. You’re a god.”

“The mated pair. The mountain dragons.”

That caught my attention. “What about them? Do you know them? Could you put in a good word for me? Dude, you have no idea how much easier it would be if they’d just come over to me and, like, be my friends or something. That way we wouldn’t have to go through the whole song and dance that I went through with Kevin. And with Zero. I’d really rather not be chased. They probably have gigantic teeth. And honestly? Me and gigantic teeth really don’t do well together, especially when they’re snapping in my direction.”

“I can’t do that,” the dragon said. “But I can give you a hint.”

I scowled at him. “Your hints usually suck balls.”

“Take it or leave it.”

“Fine. Hint away.”

“The mated pair are both… female.”

“What,” I said flatly, because what?

“The mountain dragons are female.”

“Uh, yeah. Got that the first time. I don’t know what that’s supposed to help me with. Hints mean help. Did you not know that? That’s sad that you didn’t—holy fucking shit, lesbian dragons!”

The star dragon preened.

“That’s… so fucking cool,” I breathed. “Are you being serious right now? Lesbians are amazing. This is going to be a piece of cake! We’re family! I’ll just walk in, talk about how I love penis, and they’ll love me!” I paused, considering. “Okay, maybe that plan needs some fine-tuning, but I’ll figure it out. But that makes things so much easier. Lesbians love me for some reason. But that’s okay, because I love them too. It’s all good in the hood. Finally, something going my way—”

“Who are you talking to?” Randall said from the top of the stairs.

Since I hadn’t expected him to be there, I spun around and screamed.

The room had some pretty killer acoustics, which taught me that I sounded significantly less masculine than I thought I did when I screamed out of fear. It was crushingly disappointing, to say the least.

“My word,” I said, hand at my throat. “Why are you sneaking?”

He arched an eyebrow at me.

“The star dragon.”

He looked around the room slowly. “There’s nothing here.”

I looked over at the far wall. Sure enough, only ice remained.

“He was there!” I exclaimed, turning back to Randall. “He totally was!”

“You sound like a heretic.”

“I sound like a sexy heretic.”

“That’s not even remotely a thing.”

“I’m making it one.”

“You’re going to be loud the whole time you’re here, aren’t you.”

“You can always send me back,” I said hopefully. “Then you’ll get five weeks of blissful silence until we get here.”

“The thought has crossed my mind.”

“Thank the gods.”

“But then I realized that seeing how far you’ve come is more important than my comfort levels.”

“Damn the gods.”

“However, we can still have blissful silence during this time.” That didn’t come out sounding like a request.

“It’s like you don’t even know me.”

“No,” he said. “I could never be that lucky. You do realize that seeing the star dragon is exactly what happened to Vadoma, correct? You can no longer doubt any aspect of her when you’re capable of the same thing.”

“You just had to go there, didn’t you?”

“Are you ready to discuss your secrets?”

“Are you?” I snapped back without thinking. I wanted to take the words back as soon as I heard them echo around the foyer.

Randall’s mouth thinned to a bloodless line. “Eight in the morning, Sam of Wilds. Not a second later.”

Then he turned, robes swirling, kicking up little shavings of ice, before he disappeared down a hallway. A door opened and closed a moment later.