The train pulled into the station at 2 a.m.
I dragged my suitcase off the train. An elderly man with an ebony cane stood beneath a lamp. Several guards waited behind him in dark gray coats, each pinned with the same iris crest as the one on my mother's pendant.
"Ms. Ashford."
He came toward me and inclined his head. Only when he noticed the bandage peeking from my sleeve did he frown. Then he offered me his hand so I could steady myself.
"I'm Edmund Hale. Your father was my closest friend and my teacher."
"Mr. Hale..."
"Call me Edmund." His eyes reddened as he studied my face. "You've been through a lot all these years."
I had meant to say I could walk on my own, but the words never came.
He didn't press me about how I had been hurt. He simply had a guard take my suitcase and open
