Chapter 19 : The Letter

• Avera followed Blackridge back through the hidden door and into the narrow corridor, retracing the halls they had come down. The cramped corridor seemed to devour the light which disappeared suddenly and without warning, and all turned to darkness when the door shut behind them. She kept close behind him, the maurium crystals lighting their path. They walked in silence as they went, and they continued on through the dark halls of the now familiar castle.
• Lord Blackridge was still giving off a quiet air of intensity which Avera found somewhat intimidating, and she found herself thinking how glad she was to have his favor. Avera felt her mind begin to wander, still swirling with the events of the day. Questions and conversations warred with simple observations and distant memories of home.
• "Lord Blackridge," she said at last, "is my father really conspiring against the state?"