"Swear you won't tell anyone if I tell you" Alison says

"Ego sum ligatum hac lingua ligatum" Tori says a spell.

Everyone else chants in union "Ego sum ligatum hac lingua ligatum"

They look at me, as if expecting something. I try to recite as best as I can, I'm still new to the whole fairy spell thing.

"I'm doing some research on something" Alison leans closer "Something huge. About six months ago, me and Amanda discovered something while we were searching for family records in the royal archives. The queen made an exchange with one of the leaders of the lower courts of Averill. The year the deal was made, a prime was born here in Elsher."

"Prime?" I ask

"A true fairy, whose blood is not 'poisoned' by any other creatures" Lyle responds.

"She gave this child to that court so they could raise it to be their leader. It's how Elsher wanted to achieve more military control because there was growing concern about the drowned situation in Solace and the leaders of Elsher wanted to ensure they were on good terms with Averill so that no matter what Elsher would remain in power." Alison continued "I took a few of these documents from the archives and stuck them into a notebook. I kept going back to look into this more because I was sure that if Averill had a prime we would've already known this, I mean it's been almost twenty years since the alleged exchange, and still no word of a prime leader rising to power."

"So you think that people found out Amanda knew of this and they killed her?" I ask

"I don't think it, I know it" Alison responds "Amanda forbid me from going back or doing any more research because we were finding out things we knew we shouldn't know. So she continued looking into it in the safety of the mortal world. They couldn't get to her there"

"But as soon as she returned" Finn says

"Yeah, here they could get to her" Alison says looking at her lap. "Amanda found out that seven years after the exchange the child was kidnapped and no one has seen it since. This morning I opened the drawer where I kept additional documents and photos that prove this whole thing and it was empty."

How do I tell her that I'm highly suspicious I'm the one responsible for the disappearance of the notebook that possibly killed her sister, and it's at the bottom of a lake now and all of the research in it is probably unusable by now.

I don't end up saying a word, I'll just figure something out and get the notebook back somehow.

"Guys, I'm scared" Alison says "Whatever killed Amanda is coming for me next"

"Listen" I say "I don't know how much comfort this gives you, but if they haven't tried killing you yet, they probably won't. This is gonna sound horrible but I think they were just sending a message with her" I put my hand on Alison's back and give her a reassuring smile.

"Have you talked to your father lately" Lyle asks while taking a sip of his scotch "Lydia?"

"It's Letitia" I say

Finn and Tori give each other a look.

"Why?" I ask

"I hear your old man is a fugitive" Lyle says

"What are you saying?" I ask distraught

"Running away to Solace, don't you think it's a little basic?" He says "It's been a pleasure" he says and stands up "But I have some business to attend to" He says with a half smile and walks out.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Solace?" Wes asks looking at me

"Yeah" I say slowly while fidgeting with my sweater

"That's where you moved from?" Alison asks

"I kind of moved back. We left Elsher when I was five, and a few days ago Tori and Finn's parents asked me to come and live with them" I explain

"That must've been hard, leaving like that" Alison says. I can't believe she even cares a little bit about what's going on with me while her sister just died twelve hours ago. Maybe I was wrong about the people here... well only some of them.

"I'm getting used to it" I say with a chuckle.

"Guys, we need to find that notebook" Tori says

"If it's even there. How do you know someone hasn't taken it?" Finn says

"True, but better to look everywhere and find nothing than have someone else find it." Wes says

"Let's meet at the estate at seven tonight, and we'll look for it" Tori says

"Won't they see us? Especially Lyle?" I ask

"Lyle really isn't as bad as he seems." Alison says

"Sure" Finn rolls his eyes

"I'm serious. And it doesn't really matter, he can't say anything, he's bound by the spell" Alison says

✧ ˚ · ☾

We have gotten home now and we're taking our shoes off. Wes went back to his dorm so now it's just the three of us.

"Finn!" Says my uncle "Come here, let's talk" He calls him into the living room

Me and Tori are putting our shoes away so we get to hear a small part of this conversation.

"How serious are you about the Whitlock girl?" Desmond asks

"The good old marriage talk" Tori says as we start walking up the stairs

"Why the hell do you guys have to marry so young anyway?" I ask

"If I knew" She answers

Me and Tori sit down on the beanbags located at the top of the stairs. There's a little corner there, kind of like an indoor balcony.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about something, I just didn't want to do it in front of the others" I say "I lied earlier, last night I wasn't just alone at the boathouse and I didn't find that blazer. I was with Aiden, and I found a notebook, but I don't have it, it fell into the lake." I say as quickly as I can.

"What the hell were you doing with Aiden?" She asks

"I was sitting in a boat writing a letter to my friend and he was fighting with some girl and then he just jumped in and paddled us into the middle of the lake, then I fell into the water with the paddle and the notebook and we had to use our hands to paddle out. I swear I wasn't hanging out with him because I so desperately wanted to." I say

"Whatever. I don't even care if do want to hang with him, but you have to tell Alison. We have to get that notebook" Tori says

"Maybe we should just go and look for it now, there's no time to waste" She says

"Go where?" Ramona comes walking up the stairs

"To school" Tori says immediately

"Yeah, I forgot a book there yesterday and we have a pop quiz tomorrow" I say, participating in the lie

"Well" She takes a sip of her tea "Before you go anywhere maybe we should talk about why you thought it was a good idea to leave the party without talking to us and putting yourselves in unnecessary danger"

"But what about Finn?" Tori asks

"Oh don't worry, your brother will get his punishment" Ramona responds

"I'm so sorry Ramona, Tori just wanted to show me around and help me make some new friends, we didn't intend to put ourselves in any danger or cause any problems" I say

My aunt takes a pause before responding "Don't make a habit out of it" She says and walks into her office.

"You're good" Tori says smiling at me.

"So how will we do this? How are we gonna get it back?" I ask

"I don't know. I'm not entirely sure Alison even needs to know of this. Maybe we could just quickly grab it and give it to her."

"Grab what?" Finn walks up the stairs and sits down on a beanbag.

"Guess what" Tori says "Letty knows where the notebook is."

"What did Desmond want to talk to you about?" I ask, avoiding further questions about how I know where the notebook is.

"He wants to marry me off to Alison" He says

"Will you?" Tori asks

"Tori" he says "i'm seventeen and in school, I'm not even dating her" he tilts his head back "Why don't you get asked when you'll marry? Why is it just me?"

"You do know you don't HAVE to marry her right?" I ask

"They won't hear of 'such nonsense', our parents married at sixteen so we are actually overdue if you think about it" Tori says

"I never thought I'd be grateful to not be from Elsher" I say

"Oh don't you worry" Finn says "I'm sure my dad is already looking for someone for you"

We joke around for a few more minutes then we get up and each of us go into our rooms, preparing to get the notebook. I'm not sure if I did the right thing by telling Tori. Maybe it's safer if we keep it at the bottom of a lake, at least no one would find it. I look out my window, the sun is going down it's about five in the afternoon. I put my hair in a ponytail and get my bags from underneath my bed. I get a few old pieces of clothing that I won't mind getting dirty. I get dressed and walk into Tori's room. Finn is already there.

"Ready?" Tori asks

We climb out her window and land in the garden. It's safer than getting asked a million questions about where we're going in full spy attire.