10. Truthfinder
This letter I hold is full of lies.
If I send this, my name will truly become ironic. My heart will become a just a little bit heavier with that knowledge. The ghosts of the past will become just a little bit more restless.
But send it I will, because it must be done.
What did you know of the animus Darkstalker?
Hard questions echo in my head as I fold up the parchment. Questions that I cannot bear to answer fully. They have haunted me for some time now. All that this recent correspondence did was dredge them up and bring them into focus.
Do you have any information worth sharing about the death of Prince Arctic or planned assassination of our queen?
My talons move over my desk (pitiful thing, like the rest of my new residence) until I find my seal and a bit of blue wax. I cannot stop myself from pausing.
The queen would like to assure you that you are absolutely not blamed for any unfortunate incidents related to your former students. Professor Truthfinder, you are a respected part of our tribe.
She expects a response by today. So there is no time for inner turmoil. I breath a puff of fire, lighting the candle with which I will heat the wax.
I justify my dishonesty to myself, insisting that I don't have time to travel to the incomplete fortress and discuss my limited perspective on two dragonets. I have a family to tend to. A family that, thankfully, has been spared the poverty and suffering that afflicts so many of my tribe now. It's no use, I still feel sick inside.
For just a moment, I ponder the questions. I let myself face them, and the real answers angrily reveal themselves to me.
The truth is that I did notice things. I saw the glances passed between Clearsight and Darkstalker. I watched that troubled young prophet struggle through her classwork, visions of creation and destruction filling her head. I heard a hybrid dragonet thinking about his broken family, felt the hate and fear and pain that was in his mind.
And I did nothing.
My stomach turns as I realize that the weight on my chest is guilt, and that it is there to stay.
I drip wax onto the envelope and stamp it with my seal. Inside, folded four times, is a letter that reads:
Unfortunately, I have no information for the queen. Though Darkstalker and Clearsight were part of my class, I had not even an inkling of what would eventually transpire. Neither student showed any sign of distress. Best wishes to Her Majesty. Professor Truthfinder.