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But that was a chance I was willing to take if it meant I could find my father.
I took a seat inside the spacious carriage, resting my forehead against the window frame.
Graham ducked through the doorway and sat in the seat opposite me.
“It’s about time!” said the driver as she clicked her tongue.
The horses’ hooves trotted over the cobblestones, pulling us into the street, toward whatever truth awaited me.
Chapter
Twenty-Two
The carriage tookus along the Avenue of the Immovables, heading southeast. Graham and I stayed quiet, as if both of us feared to speak again after the anger we’d just exchanged.
We passed the abandoned First House. I thought of Imperatrix Lena Irvine, daughter of founder Kendrick Irvine, and the house’s final resident. She’d been Cambria’s only queen—besides me—who hadn’t inherited the title by marriage. I’d been queen for such a short time that I could almost forget it had happened. Lena Irvine, on the other hand, had ruled for forty years before her death, claiming a respectable place in our history books.
I hated to think how history would memorialize me. The citizens of Cambria would never see me as a hero.
“Where are we going?” I finally dared to ask.
“The Eleventh House,” Graham said.
“Cael’s house?” I asked in disbelief. “That’swhere my father is?”
“Apparently so,” he said.
“You haven’t seen him for yourself?” I asked.
“No,” he said. “I have to say, I haven’t been very interested in meeting the man who manipulated you into betraying me.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“What happened back there with Pearce?” asked Graham. “Be honest.”
I hesitated. He’d seen too much so I couldn’t claim total innocence, but I couldn’t tell him about Cael’s orders. After knowing how far Cael would go to remove his obstacles to power, nothing was more vital to Graham’s safety than keeping that alliance.
“We have reason to believe there’s an arsenal under the Academy,” I said, “with the kind of technology and weapons we read about in that stolen book.”
Graham’s brows furrowed and he remained speechless for a long moment.
“Pearce confirmed it’s real,” I said.
“Are you certain? Who else is aware of it?” asked Graham.
“Your father was,” I said. “Years ago, Keane overheard Pearce and your father discussing it, which set events in motion that ultimately led to Keane’s banishment. And now Cael knows, too. That’s where these strange objects are coming from. The light, the radios, guns like you’ve never seen.”
“Like the one the Enforcers carried on Tramore?” asked Graham.
“You saw that?” I asked.
“No.” He shook his head. “Not with my own eyes, but the islanders told me about it. If I’d seen it, I wouldn’t have stood by and watched.”
I half-smiled. To hear that from Graham’s lips was a relief, a truth I didn’t know I needed to hear.
“Why did you leave Tramore?” I asked, my voice quiet, as if I feared the question would reveal too much of my heart. “I know you didn’t want to come back.”
“I didn’t.” He closed his eyes, looking exhausted. “But Lachlan wanted to follow Cait, and I didn’t want him tosail alone after being shot. My mother was being blamed for murdering me, and”—he halted, glancing up at me—“I don’t know. I just felt compelled.”
