The sound of his quiet sobs coupled with his offer to end our relationship broke through my own pain. I pulled him closer, rubbing his back to comfort him much as he had done for me by the ridge.
"No," I answered softly.
"No?"
"No. You cannot guarantee that I will not still be targeted, even if you end all contact. And. . . I do not want to lose you either. We will work through this. You do not deserve such enemies any more than I do. What we need to do is find those who are plotting against you and stop them."
"I have been working on that for two years now and have made very little progress," he admitted, his voice muffled against my shoulder.
"But now you are not working alone. You no longer have to act as bait AND detective. I can be the bait and we will work together to puzzle out who is behind these nefarious schemes."
He shook his head. "What if you get hurt or killed?"
"I could get hurt or killed by any number of other circumstances whether we are friends or not. At least if I get killed helping you, I will have died for a good cause and we will have enjoyed every moment together that we could."
"That is not terribly comforting." He was still holding me tight, his head tucked against my shoulder, but his sobs had stopped and his voice was getting stronger.
"It is the truth, nonetheless. Come, let us make a plan." I stepped away and grabbed his hand, pulling him after me around the house and to the front door. The head manservant shot me a strange look when I opened the door and walked in with an unexpected guest, but he said nothing as he divested me of my cloak and took Del's coat and hat.
I led Del to the parlor and took a seat at the desk in the corner, grabbing a fresh sheet of paper and a pen.
"We should probably start by figuring out possible motives," I said, diving right in. Del pulled a chair up next to me, so close that his breaths tickled my neck as he watched over my shoulder.
"Well, I am a very wealthy man. A large portion of my grandparents' estate is mine."
"What about your uncle?"
"He has a smaller portion. He owns the house, but I own the country estate. He has probably a third of their money and investments and I have the rest."
"And what happens if you die?"
"All of my money will go to charity. I had a will made up soon after I realized that I was being targeted, but the attacks have not stopped."
"Your uncle knows about your will?"
"Yes. I was very open and public about it. It should not be hard for anyone to find out about it."
"What charities will benefit if you die?"
He chuckled. "You really think charities are behind this?"
"I think that not everyone employed by a charity is above suspicion."
"Well, the charities I have my money willed to are Talaran and unlikely to seek my death."
"Talaran?" I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion. I knew Del's grandparents had retired to Talar but. . . "Have you actually been to Talar?"
I sensed the shift in his mood from light to very serious. I turned and found him looking at me thoughtfully. "Can I trust you to keep a secret for me?" he asked, grabbing my hand.
"Absolutely."
"I was only stranded on that dashed island for five years."
"Five? But then the other two. . ."
"I spent a few months on a different island, trying to work my way home, and the rest in Talar with my grandparents. I ended up in Talar quite unintentionally. It was simply the destination of the first ship I managed to work my way onto. The captain mentioned that he knew a couple from Solnara and invited me to meet them upon arrival. Imagine my surprise when I found my dear grandparents so far from home! It was certainly not as much of a surprise as they had when they saw me, naturally."
I laughed, imagining that they must indeed have been very surprised to find their presumed dead grandson dropping in for a visit so far from their home country.
"We spent a pleasant two years catching up. They nursed me back to full health and helped me re-integrate into society. I enjoyed Talar immensely. In fact, I will likely move there myself, someday."
"What brought you back to Solnara?"
"I needed to look after my affairs."
"And what has kept you here?"
"I do not want to carry danger with me back to Talar. The Talarans are a peaceful people. While they can defend themselves as necessary, I do not want to disrupt their peace."
"Tell me about Talar," I requested. "Please?"
The shadows that had appeared when he saw the drawing melted away as he began to tell me about his time in Talar. He described their customs and their love for knowledge. He had apparently been to their repository of knowledge, a sacred place where all the knowledge collected over generations was stored.
"I learned so much from them. Not just about manners and behavior, but about human nature and science and the natural world."
"It sounds wonderful," I sighed. I had often dreamed of traveling, but Mother and Father were homebodies, happy to remain in Solnara except for the occasional visit to our family in the country.
"Perhaps someday you can go with me," he said softly. He was looking at me intently, as if gauging my reaction.
"I think I would enjoy that," I answered simply and honestly.
In response, he stood, pulling me off my chair and into his arms and pressing his lips gently, coaxingly to mine. I responded to his kiss and wrapped my arms around his neck, exploring the soft ends of his hair with my fingertips.
We were thus engaged when the door opened and Remdon walked in. Del and I jumped apart, but not before Remdon saw us. He raised a dark eyebrow and sank down into his favorite armchair.
"Did I miss an important announcement?" he asked, pinning Del with a glare.