The garden letters
418 Words
For the next several days, Elara and Adrian barely spoke.
Whenever they passed each other, Adrian bowed formally.
Elara returned the gesture.
Nothing more.
It was safer that way.
At least, that was what Adrian told himself.
But distance did not make his thoughts disappear.
Instead, it made them louder.
One afternoon, Elara went to the garden carrying a book.
She sat beneath an old oak tree and opened it.
A folded piece of paper slipped from between the pages.
Her heart raced.
She unfolded it.
The library is watched.
She looked around.
Nobody was there.
She wrote a reply on another piece of paper.
Then where can we speak?
The next morning, the answer appeared.
The old chapel. After sunset.
Elara knew the chapel.
It stood beyond the western gardens, unused since the queen’s grandfather had died.
That evening, she went there alone.
Adrian was waiting.
“You came.”
“You asked me to.”
“I didn’t know if you would.”
She smiled faintly.
“You should know by now that I dislike being told what I cannot do.”
Adrian laughed softly.
For a moment, everything felt normal again.
Then his expression became serious.
“I’ve been investigating the warning.”
“And?”
“Someone has been moving military supplies without the king’s permission.”
Elara frowned.
“Who?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Could it be Marius?”
“Possibly.”
“Why would a royal adviser betray the king?”
“Power.”
She looked at him.
“That simple?”
“Power is rarely simple.”
They stood in silence.
Then Elara asked, “Why did you avoid me?”
Adrian looked away.
“Because I was trying to do the right thing.”
“And did it work?”
“No.”
She smiled sadly.
“Good.”
Adrian looked at her.
The silence between them felt different now.
Not empty.
Full.
Elara stepped closer.
“We cannot control what other people think.”
“No.”
“But we can control what we do.”
Adrian nodded.
“Then we must be careful.”
“I know.”
Before they left, Adrian noticed movement outside the chapel.
He immediately reached for his sword.
Someone was running through the trees.
Adrian followed.
But the stranger disappeared into the darkness.
On the ground, Adrian found a small black seal.
He picked it up.
The symbol belonged to the royal council.
Someone inside the palace was involved.
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