Chapter Fifteen ~ Penpals

“Hazel?” Emily asked nervously. “Yes?” The two made their way to the back of the party, not drawing attention. “Don’t you feel like we’re walking into a trap?” she whispered. Hazel sighed and replied, “A little.” “You of all people should be worrying… A powerful witch has something very valuable of yours.” The head knight stiffened slightly, and responded, “You think that thought doesn’t cross my mind? I did what I thought needed to be done in the situation at hand, and in that, gave a potential enemy potential power over me.” Emily commented, “Well, at least we don’t know if the black knight and Ximena are working together-” “Emily, I believe the chance that they are is VERY high.” Then, with a sly smile, she added, “You think you’re the only one receiving letters?” Emily recoiled, eyes widening. Hazel laughed and said, “Don’t worry, I didn’t read it. It seems you’ve been sending more than receiving.” She then went back to the lead of the party, leaving a very puzzled team mate. What do HER letters say, and who are they from?

Their conversation was mostly private, except Jack was near the back as well. And despite his attempts against it, he heard everything. His thoughts matched Emily’s except he wondered for hers too. Why does it seem like everyone has a secret? I guess what I have doesn’t technically count as a secret, but none of the other knights know. Nor do they NEED to know. It’s not important. He looked to the head of the party, who sat astride her black horse. Just what are you hiding, Hazel?

Back at the castle, the same thought was going through two troublemakers’ minds. They were outside, trying to find “the” tree. Problem was, there were LOTS of trees. Robyn was enacting the cliche of the glass bottle binoculars, too lazy to go investigate all of the trees personally. Bree sat by her side, holding the little note. She nearly jumped as Robyn exclaimed, “There! That tree has a book underneath it!” Both broke out into a run, adrenaline in their veins. They approached their target, examining the book. “This is just another story book…” Bree stated, looking at the cover. Robyn stared upwards… and saw something among the branches. She scaled the tree, feeling worn-in footholds. She snatched the mysterious object and dropped to the ground. Bree went to her side and looked at the “treasure”. It was a few pages, seemingly hand-bound together. There was nothing written on the cover, but through the pages Hazel’s handwriting could be seen.

“Robyn,” Bree began, “This doesn’t seem right. These could be deeply personal thoughts, and we’re invading.” “Do you wanna know the secret?” she responded bluntly, raising an eyebrow. Bree nodded her head with guilt. “Thought so. Besides, we don’t have to tell anyone.” She flipped open to the first page, slightly surprised. The handwriting seemed to be that of a child. “She’s had this for a long time…” Robyn said to no one in particular. They both read, eyes growing progressively larger with each passing second. “No way…” Bree gasped. Robyn groaned, “She’d kill us if she knew we knew. Not literally, but we may have the greatest beatdown of our lives ahead of us…” She quickly replaced the “diary” in the tree and the two ran into the castle, a little wiser than when they began. Don’t look into others secrets; you might not like what you find.