Chapter 56: Ennessa Half Truth

The old librarian’s hand stopped halfway through placing a book on the shelf.

It lasted barely a second, but Ennessa noticed.

"He left."

"Left where?"

"I don’t know."

She stared at him.

"When?"

"Three days ago."

Something cold settled in her stomach.

"The same night as the attack?"

Rowan looked at her over the top of his glasses.

"Yes."

Ennessa was silent.

"How did he leave?" She asked further.

"He bought his freedom."

She hadn’t expected that answer.

"He what?"

"He brought me the money that evening and paid what remained of his contract. Once the payment was accepted, there was nothing keeping him here." Rowen said.

Ennessa frowned.

"Caiden had enough money to buy his freedom?"

"Apparently."

There was something in Rowan’s tone that made her suspicious, although she couldn’t tell whether it was deliberate or simply the old man’s usual calmness.

"When did you find out?"

"That evening." Rowen said.

"And you just let him leave?"

"Why wouldn’t I?" He asked.

"Because you were practically responsible for him."

"Not responsible," Rowan corrected. "He worked here."

"You know what I mean."

Rowan smiled.

"He was a free man, Ennessa. I had no authority to stop him."

She folded her arms.

"Did you see him leave?" She further asked.

"No."

The answer came without hesitation.

That bothered her.

He reached inside his robe and placed a small pouch on the desk.

Ennessa looked at it but didn’t touch it.

"You kept it?"

"Yes."

She studied his face, trying to decide whether he was telling her the truth or merely giving her the version of events he wanted her to accept.

Rowan was difficult to read.

He had always been like that.

"Did he say where he was going?"

"No."

"Did he mention anything about the military district?" Ennessa asked.

"No."

Ennessa’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"How long had he been planning it?" she asked quietly.

Rowan’s expression changed just enough for her to know he’d understood the question.

"Planning what?" Rowen asked.

Ennessa looked at him.

"You know."

The librarian sighed.

"I think you should be careful with assumptions."

"I’m not assuming anything yet." Ennessa replied.

"Good."

"But I’m going to find out."

She turned and left before Rowan could answer.

The rest of the day was spent gathering pieces.

Ennessa didn’t have access to the full military report, but she didn’t need it. Korrandis was large enough to hide secrets and small enough that rumors rarely stayed rumors for long.

She spoke to a servant whose brother worked near one of the southern gates. Then she found a young officer who had spent most of the previous night helping with the security sweep. Neither gave her anything definitive, but both independently mentioned the same thing: there had been three intruders.

Two adults.

And a boy.

She kept digging.

One of the guards had seen a young person moving through the district shortly before the explosions. Another had noticed someone wearing a stolen guard uniform. Several witnesses remembered two men, although their descriptions were inconsistent enough to suggest disguises.

That last detail caught her attention.

A disguise.

Ennessa thought back to Caiden.

He had never looked like someone who would willingly walk into a military district without preparing for it. He was too cautious for that. Whatever he’d been doing, he would have spent time learning the area first.

She returned to the library that evening.

Rowan was still there, reading beneath the same lamp as always.

Ennessa stopped beside his desk.

"You lied to me."

Rowan didn’t look up from his book.

"That’s quite an accusation."

There was no accusation in the old man’s voice. No attempt to defend Caiden, either.

That answer irritated her more than an outright refusal would have.

Ennessa looked toward the empty chair near the window.

She could still picture him sitting there with a book in his hands, apparently absorbed in whatever he was reading while quietly paying attention to everything happening around him.

She had always known there was something unusual about him.

The first time she had confronted him, she’d suspected he was hiding his identity. Later, she had begun to suspect that he had awakened.

But suspicion was one thing.

This was different.

The evidence was beginning to form a single picture.

Caiden had studied the southern district for months.

He had earned money steadily instead of spending it.

He had disappeared on the exact night three intruders entered the military district.

And now he was nowhere to be found.

Ennessa stood very still.

She didn’t need anyone to tell her what that meant.

Caiden had been one of them.

She was nearly certain of it.

No.... she corrected herself.

She was certain.

The realization should have made her angry.

Instead, the first thing she felt was disbelief.

That boy had spent months working in the library, speaking to her with that careful calm of his, and all the while he’d apparently been preparing for something large enough to involve the military district itself.

She remembered the way he used to look at her whenever she questioned him, as though he were constantly measuring how much he could safely say.

At the time, she’d found it irritating.

Now it was almost impressive.

"You’re unbelievable," she muttered, though there was the faintest trace of amusement behind the words.

Rowan glanced up.

"What?"

"Nothing."

She turned away before he could ask again.

She could report her suspicion to the household.

She could tell the guards that Caiden had almost certainly been involved in the incident and let Korrandis begin the search.

But Ennessa didn’t like that idea.

She wanted answers before anyone else found him.

There were too many things she still didn’t understand about that boy, and if she handed the matter over to the household now, she might never get the chance to speak to him herself.

More importantly, she wanted to know why.

Why had he lied to her?

Why had he hidden his identity?

Why had he risked entering the military district?

Ennessa left the library and returned to her room.

She was supposed to be unpacking for the evening, but she barely touched her luggage. Instead, she stood by the window, looking toward the distant southern district where the damage was still visible against the night sky.

Caiden was somewhere beyond it now.

She didn’t know where.

She didn’t know who had escaped with him.

She didn’t even know what he had taken.

But she knew where she would begin.

She would find him herself.

And when she did, she wasn’t going to let him slip away with another half-truth.