The Road to Hexhaven

[Rook]

Requiem did not go as expected. Darius would not meet with me. The final message the courier dropped off all but told me to jump off of a tall pier. She also left me with a very… colorful… letter for me to hand to Grimm. The poor courier refused to deliver my reply. Can’t say that I blame her, honestly. Knowing what I know, I wouldn’t have delivered the first message.

I reached for my book and pen to scribble a quick word of thanks with a couple of copper for her trouble. But by the time I turned back to the doorway, a blur of purple and a sickly sweet odor overwhelmed my senses, and everything went black.

Hoof beats on gravel and a headache woke me. Voices in the coach whispered among themselves words I couldn’t hold on to as I struggled to stay awake.

“… Darius said…”

“Bellatrix … hiding…”

“How… found… Paradigm…”

“Nezarius … too close…”

Wait, what? That name…

My eyes flew open to a too-cramped carriage, filled with the pungent scent of pipe tobacco and leather.

“Little bird has decided to grace us with her presence at last,” a smoky voice next to her said. “You keep questionable company, Lady.”
Pain lanced through my head and made opening my eyes an act of self-loathing. Who IS this?

“Drink this.” The man with the smoke for a voice shoved a flask into my hands. Reflexively, I tried to speak, but nothing came out. Nothing I wanted, anyway.

“Banana,” I rasped. The men surrounding me in the carriage laughed.

“Perhaps we shouldn’t have used such a strong… magic. Rigg does tend to get carried away.”

My eyes focused and met with those of an unfamiliar storm-eyed pirate, garbed in purple and gold. His closely-shaven face was younger than the gruff voice led me to believe. Magic softly radiated from him in a subtle pulse I’ve only experienced from Grimm and Kalen. His gaze was curious and unnerving.

“There she is,” he whispered.

I searched for my book and my pen, suddenly very aware that I was without my gear. Or any of my things. Intuitively, he reached under his legs and pulled out a bag and handed it to me. “Darius said you would need assistance communicating.”

He knew Darius? He mentioned Darius earlier while I was still half awake. And Bellatrix. Concern for my safety must have read clearly on my face because his face softened, and he composed himself. He put my pen and book in my hands. “You are safe, little bird. For now.”

I took my pen and opened the book, taking careful note of the pages now missing. Again, like he read my mind, he pulled a handful of pages torn from my book from the inside pocket of his coat.

I pushed my questions into his free hand. Why am I here? Where are you taking me?

“An old, mutual acquaintance thought you could use a lift to Hexhaven. I was in the neighborhood and figured I would offer you my assistance. We are a night’s ride out.”

Who? And who are you?

“You already know who. And I am no one of consequence. But what we are all curious of, is who… are you?”

Rook.

“I know your name, little bird.” The silver claws on his left hand brushed the hair from my face. His hand paused by my ear and the soft, the charm on his face vanished in an instant. “Stop the coach.” He pounded on the wall behind me, and we lurched to a stop. “Everyone out. You will walk the rest of the way”

They exchanged puzzled glances, hesitant to move.

“NOW.”

And they were gone.

He knocked on the wall and then turned his attention back to me. Well, back to his clawed hand next to my face. I backed my face up until it hid the back of the seat. The claws adorning his hand glowed a faint blue as he traced the edges of the scar at my throat.

“Can you trust me?” He read my face for what felt like an eternity. I didn’t know what to say. I knew nothing about him aside from the Vertigron medallion around his neck, and that he knew Darius and Bellatrix. He wasn’t exactly forthcoming with information and gave me no reason to trust anything he said.

I don’t know you. Why should I?

“What if I told you I could get you your voice back?”

OK. Curiosity piqued.

What’s the catch?

“Well, since you asked,” he paused, “I’m looking for Nezarius.”

Because of course he is.

I haven’t heard that name in an age.

“You haven’t been here an age. I know you know where I can find him.”

Fine. I don’t know where he is. I haven’t seen Nezarius since I left the Islands.

“I find it hard to believe he’d leave his pet behind in a place like Requiem without protection,” he watched for a tell. I gave him none. “Fine. Play hard to get.”

A knock at the coach door broke the tension. “Pardon me, Captain. There’s an approach comin’.”

“So move us aside and let them pass,” he spoke through his teeth. So his calm was a façade. Noted.

“It’s the Dejardin askin’ ‘bout our business.”

He muttered a South Sea curse under his breath and turned his attention back to me.

“We’re out of time, little bird. Tell me what I want to know before the Dejardin find out you’re here. Don’t think I don’t know that you’ve meddled in the Lady’s business.”

I told you what I know.

He could sense my growing anxiety, and I could do nothing to hide it. The magic in his claws was giving him far too much information.

“If you can find it in yourself to trust me, I will get you safely to Hexhaven unnoticed. But I need to know where to find Nezarius.” He opened the door to deal with the threat outside and closed the door.

And as he did, a leather map roll tumbled from where he sat. I waited to hear the talking outside the coach begin, and I opened it. A map with strange markings, spattered with red. Meadowmere, Haven, Whisper Ridge, all scratched through. He’d been following for a while. Or someone had been.
This… this could be what we needed. I quickly rolled it back up and stuffed it behind the bag with my gear in it right as the door clicked open again.

This time, as the stormy-eyed Captain got back in the coach, he didn’t look frantic – he was too cool-headed for that. But there was an urgency in his eyes and in his words.

“This is where I leave you, little bird” he whispered, “the Dejardin are accompanying this cargo coach to Hexhaven. I will get you there as quietly as I can. When you get to the gates, you will exit on the dark side of the coach before they are able to open this door. You need to hide in the trees until all is clear. Once they are gone, stick to the shadows and follow the stone gate to the west side of the school. There is a door between two boulders marked with these sigils,” he pressed a gold ring into the palm of my hand. “Wait for the moonlight to hit the knocker, then knock twice, then thrice, then twice again, and wait. If the knob glows gold and purple, it’s safe to enter. If it does not glow, you need to run. Do you understand?”

I had so many questions, but my hand would not write as quickly as I needed to, so I just nodded.

“And give my regards to Nezarius.”

He removed his coat and pointed to the corner of the cabin. I crouched on the floor, my pack held tightly to my chest, and he covered me. A couple of incantations under his breath, a gentle wave of magic settled over me, and he was gone.

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