Adrian rode north alone, against Elena's explicit objection, three days after his father's formal denial reached the Voss court.
He found Damon in the private study of the family's secondary estate near the border, close enough to Ravenhold that Adrian suspected his father's claimed distance from the fortress's activities might prove considerably less genuine than his public letter suggested.
"You should not have come," Damon said, not looking up from the documents spread across his desk. "Your presence here, so close to Garrick's position, invites exactly the kind of suspicion I have worked carefully to avoid."
"I needed to see you directly," Adrian said, closing the door behind him. "Your letter denied supporting Garrick's rebellion. I need to know whether that denial carries any genu
