Page 21 of Bear Protector
“You should go now,” she blurted out all of a sudden.
“Why?”
“Because you are right. The Chancellor will probably believe I—”
“He will think the worst of you…and me. Especially me. That is how the man’s mind works.”
“If the guards do their rounds, they will see us here, and they are sure to question us. It is best if I am alone. I will wait inside until Coco returns. No matter what her plan is, it’s better than giving the Chancellor fodder for him to doubt.”
“The truth is not fodder, Kiera.”
“I agree, but you just said it yourself. The Chancellor will think the worst of us. Please, can you just go now?”
“Fine. Send word of what happens with your familiar. She can find me inspecting the walls for most of today and tomorrow.”
“I will. Thank you again.”
He turned his horse and the riderless mare. “Have a good day.”
Kiera waited inside, pacing around as she brainstormed a slew of ideas on what to tell the Chancellor. Each scheme was more preposterous than the last. Eventually, she dismissed them all. Lying was not going to save her from certain death in nine days. After about twenty minutes, a fortress carriage arrived near the front of the hall. Coco walked inside with a satchel on her shoulder, followed by someone wearing a hooded cloak that looked just like the one Kiera was wearing. The woman pushed back her hood to reveal she was Aleena, Kiera’s handmaid.
“Good morning, Kiera.”
“Hello, dear.”
“You do see where I am going with this, right?” Coco asked, removing her cloak and passing it and the satchel to the handmaid.
“I think so. Aleena was me, and now…she’ll be you?”
“Exactly. I will take on my bird form and ride home inside this,” Coco said, smiling as she pointed at the satchel. “Just do not squeeze me too hard.”
“Gosh, I never would have come up with such a smart move, not this early in the morning, anyway.”
“That is because you are innocent, honest and do not have a mischievous, conniving or disobedient bone in your body.” Coco removed the rest of her clothes and took on her form as an osprey again. “Let’s hurry back. I told the guards outside that I forgot something in here during our meeting yesterday with Commander Oslo.”
They wasted no time, and soon, were all safely back in Kiera’s room. No one was the wiser. Kiera wanted to confront Coco about so many things, but it was not a good time to corner her. She would have a quiet talk with her when her mind was clear.
Now, if she could just keep Chancellor Minassus out of her head.
* * *
Kiera was in the clear.
For now.
The Chancellor saw her at breakfast, and had only asked her whether she enjoyed her day of meditation. He was satisfied with her simple nod of affirmation.
How strange.
He did not even try to read her thoughts.
After a few hours of laying low in her room, she was ready to potentially get herself into more trouble. She had sent Coco to tell Xander she would still meet him in the afternoon during his inspections. The reality was, in less than twenty-four hours of meeting him, she had come to know more about the shifter transformation ceremony than all this time inside the fortress. Too many people in here had kept her in the dark.
Taking a leaf from Coco’s book, she wore her familiar’s cloak to leave the fortress. Xander was waiting for her, just as they had planned. He stood at the outer wall just beyond the craftsmen’s homes.
“You made it,” he said once she was close enough to hear.
“I did.”
