My head is groggy and hurts like hell when I wake the next morning. I check on my wound, removing its bandages. The wound looks worse than it did yesterday. The wound is pink and swollen and the skin around it is hot. I have Ada summon a physician immediately.
Jill comes to see me in the afternoon after classes, noticing my absence. "Are you feeling alright Jor?" she says walking towards my bedside. She pauses and gasps loudly when she's near enough to notice my arm, freshly bandaged.
Obviously, I should've called for a physician the night before instead of staying up late, studying stolen letters.
"Jor, what on earth happened?"
"I'm fine, I say reassuringly. It's just a cut. I fell off my horse and the physician has already seen me. He said it'll get better in no time"
Jill frowns as she sits on the edge of my bed. "You look a little pale, was the wound infected?"
"Yes, apparently I waited a bit too long before seeking medical attention" I shrug.
"Well you didn't miss much today. I ll fill you in when you're feeling better. Will you be alright to attend the party at Wemberly?" she asks
Oh gods, I've completely forgotten all about it. "That was tonight?" I ask, eyes widened.
"Yes, I already received my invitation, I assumed you did too since Weylan was probably going."
I did receive an invitation, strangely enough. Brycen hadn't invited me to any of his parties in almost 5 years. Why now?
I think back to what I gleaned from the letter I spent hours last night deciphering. At first, the letter didn't make any sense and for a moment I thought parts of it were written in another language. Then, I remembered overhearing a conversation my father had with another Lord on the king's council regarding the methods they used to keep information out of the hands of Mazzenik spies by using ciphers and codes.
The letter was written in a coded language where most of the words were anagrams of the actual word and some words were replaced by symbols, no doubt Weylan suggested using.
The writing was messy and inconsistent, as though the message had been written at the last minute, so I assume it did not require a ciphering tool which depended on consistent word spacing to be understood. After hours of using various methods, I finally cracked it. There were 3 things I concluded from the letter.
One, a meeting tonight.
Two, a marriage alliance.
Three, my brother was a gods damned traitor.
The third I already knew but still, it unsettled me to know the depth of his betrayal.
"Jor" Jill calls to me again when I realize I still hadn't answered her question.
"Err, yes. I received the invitation. I had just forgotten what day it is."
"Wonderful." She says but looks as though she s contemplating something.
"What?" I ask. "You don't want me to come?"
Just then, Ada walks in carrying a tray with tea and biscuits and sets it infront of me. Jill opens her mouth to reply but pauses, waiting for Ada to leave.
"Of course I do, so much that I'm contemplating telling you what I know because it might make you think twice about coming. Though, I hope it means nothing to you now." Jill babbles on. It was rare that Jill was invited to any private social events held by courtiers our own age since many did not acknowledge her as legitimate. "I just received word that Aerin will be attending. I thought you would want to know, but I do hope you still decide to come.
Dear god, funny how a person whom I haven't seen much less thought about in months still has the ability to make my stomach twist the way it did now.
My heart pounds at the thought of him, at the thought of being in the same room as him or even just beholding him again. Of course he'd be invited, Brycen had known him well as he mentioned last we spoke. Maybe he was inviting me after all these years just to torment me, knowing Aerin will be there. It was very much like Brycen to go out of his way to rile me, it was like his personal amusement.
Well, feelings be damned. I wasn't going to go out of my way to avoid Aerin. Especially at a party where I know Weylan might be having an important meeting, that is, if the envoy managed to get the information to him some other way.
"I'll be there Jill. We can go together." I assure her. "Though, is there anyone in particular you're hoping to meet tonight? You're not usually one for late parties."
Jill and I were always quite content to be in a of ourselves since we were more or less the outcasts of society, each in our own way. Jill, due to her illegitimacy and I wasn't exactly liked due to my family's notoriety.
Over the past few years, my father had blackmailed and conned noblemen out of their lands and titles, and now he owned nearly a third of Korinth. Many noblemen feared as well as hated my father, and that sentiment found its way to their children who always found excuses to exclude my brothers and I from any private social events.
Just as well, I wasn't very much interested in wasting my time with people who faked niceties. That usually left Jill and I alone. Throughout the years of our isolation, she had become the sister I never had.
Jill bites her lower lip, a war waging in her mind, whether to tell me something or not.
"Goodness Jill, what are all these secrets you're keeping from me?" I ask with a teasing smirk as I take a sip of my tea.
"Well, I'm not the only one keeping secrets these day am I?" she shoots back. I nearly choke on the sip but quickly lower my eyes to the cup.
"It's nothing to worry about. I just think I should tell you when I'm sure." She says before I can respond to her comment.
"That's no fun. When have we ever waited for news to be validated to share it with each other?" I pause. "You aren't pregnant are you" I ask in all seriousness.
She chuckles at that "Honestly Jor, if your mother heard you joke about something like that she'd be appalled and then probably arrange a trip for you to visit those institutions where they care for unmarried women with children "
I laugh at the idea of my mother gasping and then descending to a long lecture about vulgar jokes and how they can be misconstrued, not to mention offensive.
"Promise you will tell me by the end of the month at least." I say reaching out to place my hand on hers.
"I'll try my best" She says, opening her hand to hold mine. "I hope you understand, I would tell you now but the matter is sensitive and I just want to be certain before I make a big thing of it."
"I understand."