Page 100 of House of the Raven
After that, I head to my bedchamber, and I encounter Bastien waiting by the door. He looks down at the parchment still rolled in my hand. I resist the urge to hide it behind my back.
“Looking for me?” I ask in a singsong voice.
He ignores my question. “I delivered your message to Don Justo. Any other tasks you would like me to perform?” He takes a slight bow that is more mockery than anything else. The parchment crinkles as I tighten my fist.
He smirks.
“As a matter of fact, yes,” I smirk back. “Why don’t you jump off the east tower?”
I keep walking, without waiting for a retort. The door shuts behind me with a satisfyingthud. “What an insufferable man.”
“Insufferable,” Cuervo croaks from his favorite perch on the balcony.
“Saythatagain.”
“Insufferable,” he repeats.
That makes me smile and helps me push Bastien out of my mind. Instead, I busy myself with burning the parchment and watching it crumble to ashes in the fireplace.
After there’s little more than black soot left, I go to Cuervo.
Caressing his neck, I ask, “Are you all right?”
He bobs his head up and down.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been able to spend much time with you. My life is out of control.” A warm breeze blows a lock of my hair loose. Cuervo’s beak snaps at it playfully, trying to catch it.
We share a silent moment, looking out at the beautiful sight that is Castellina. The Manzanar River sparkles in the distance like a diamond necklace left behind by a giantess.
“Cuervo,” I whisper, “One day soon, you have to take me to the necklace. I need to know where it is.”
“Treasure,” he says, then he blinks his beady eyes and stares into the distance. “Treasure,” he repeats more insistently.
Slowly, my gaze follows his toward the observatory to the east. Cuervo does a little jump and flaps his wings once.
“There, huh?”
The place where he and I have spent countless hours searching fortreasure. It makes sense why he picked that place.
“And it’s safe?” I ask, worried because others also go there to retrieve beautiful crystals that dazzle the eye.
“Safe,” he repeats.
“Good. We’ll go soon.”
“Soon.”
29
VALERIA
“You will leave out all mention of The Eldrystone in Amira and Valeria’s lessons, understood?”
Rey Simón Plumanegra (Casa Plumanegra) - King of Castella - 11 AV
Before nighttime, my bedchamber gets efficiently restored while I eat dinner with Nana. She has many questions, but I manage to pacify her with what can only be called lies. I don’t want to worry her though. She is too fragile and deserves her peace.
After that, I instruct the reliable housekeeper to have my chambermaids tend to me in the morning—a request that also leaves her flabbergasted since I haven’t needed their services in years—I retire to my room and spend an hour setting every little thing just right.
