Still days had passed, and still no falcon. After that one encounter, Kaden was beginning to think that the falcon had left Goldenlake completely. She was so frustrated again that she just wanted to leave completely as well, but, because her father had assigned her to the mystery, she wanted to prove to him that she could do this. But it was getting so hard for her to do that, seeing as the falcon wouldn't even show itself.
Most days, Kaden sat in her bed, trying to avoid people. She wasn't comfortable in Goldenlake. She didn't know who anyone was. She would only see Bis if he came to her rooms. And, if she was exploring the forest, searching for the falcon, she would split the team up, and only Bis would come with her. She was beginning to think that she wasn't comfortable anymore. It made her scared and sad.
Bis had sat down with her one morning and convinced her to come out of her shell.
"Kaden, I know I'm just supposed to be here to help you and protect you, and I'm not the kind of person to give you advice or anything, but you really should come out of your shell. You can't stay cooped up in your room the whole trip. And, you're not going to get any further with your investigation if you stay like this. Just talk to them, and pretend that nothing happened between you."
"You're right Bis." Kaden sighed. As much as she didn't want to talk to either of the boys again, she had to. She was an adult. She couldn't go around acting like a child. "I guess tomorrow during our search, we can split up."
And even then, when they split up, they still didn't find anything new. No nests, no prints, no nothing. And the second day, they didn't find anything, and not even the third day. So, Kaden decided to go with plan B.
She gathered all of the men together one night, and she told them the entire plan, Bis helping her tell the story.
"These past few days have been really hard; I know they have been on all of us. And the current plan we're going by hasn't been working at all." She smiled at Bis as he reassured her. "I know all of you are getting pretty tired, and we've been here a long three weeks. But, we can't give up. The people of King Jonathan don't give up, right?"
"That's why we've been talking, and thinking a lot about what we're going to do next." Bis cut in.
"Seeing as this falcon is shy and doesn't want to show itself to us, we're going to bring someone who might be able to get through to it. You all know who she is."
Everyone in the room looked around at each other.
"Veralidaine Sarrasri, The Wildmage. She's the only one in Tortall that could help us find this falcon, and then try to figure out why it's here, and what we can do to with it." Kaden finished.
"Have you already contacted her?" Allan asked.
"That's the one thing we have to do." Bis said. "A team of us has to go up to find her, and a team of us will stay here to take care of things if the falcon decides to make a surprise appearance."
"But who's going and who's staying?" Terin asked.
"That's another thing we have to do. It depends on who wants to go and who wants to stay." Kaden replied.
"I'll go." Damek said. "I should get back to my studies." Kaden felt her insides churn. He was leaving because of her, and that made her ashamed, but at the same time, relieved.
"There's one, who else?" Bis asked.
"Me too." Allan said. "I've got… business to attend to in Corus." Kaden felt even sicker now. Two of them leaving, both because of her. Somehow, it didn't seem right. Three other knights offered to go meet up with the Wildmage.
"Kaden, you should go with them. You should check up with the King, and of course, seeing as you're leader of our group, you should be the one to inform the Wildmage what we're doing." Bis smiled at her, a smile that said that she'd be okay, that she just had to do it without thinking.
"Yes, of course." She breathed extra heavy, so that she wouldn't get sick on the floor in front of everyone. "We'll leave tomorrow morning, bright and early. It'll take us a while to get there and back, so I don't want to leave trouble behind for these men." All of the men in the room nodded, and then they all left, except for Bis.
"Thank you, Bis."
"What are you thanking me for? For volunteering you to go with the men you don't want to go with?" Kaden laughed and shook her head.
"No, not for that, but for helping me tell all of them. Well, and maybe for volunteering me. I needed it; more than I thought I did."
"You needed it, eh?" Bis smiled at her.
"I'm learning." Kaden smiled back at him.
"I know you are. Now, go pack your things. You have to leave soon."
A/N: Please review!! I know this chapter probably wasn't all that great, but hopefully it's okay... and better chapters are sure to come!
- Abiona Marchand xox.