“We could also trace the letter back to where it came from,” Griffin said. “We could look at handwriting.”
“I may have thrown it away,” Fiona admitted. “It didn’t seem important at the time.”
Darby nodded. “Griffin, look for the note and look for the person who placed it among Fiona’s packages. Ask the entire household if they saw anyone drop off a note.”
She turned to Quinn and Brielle. “I need the two of you to use your connections to the other households to see if you can locate either the bottle or the cup. I know it’s a longshot, but maybe just by inquiring, you can find a witness who saw something that night. The hallways were full of people at the ceremony.”
“What are you going to do?” Fiona asked.
“I’m going to work Flynn for information,” she said. “I’ll find out if he ordered them to do it.”
Griffin frowned. “You know all of this is a longshot, right?”
She nodded. “I refuse to do nothing though. And Professor Kane is right—if we don’t solve this by the end of the week, it could start a war.”
9
“And now,” Ragna said, “we race.”
Darby, along with a number of other students that included both Cormacs and Ming Mei Li, had spent the last two hours riding and learning all about the pegasi, the beautiful, majestic winged horses that Alanza kept at the stables. It was one of the few teams of pegasi in the region and easily one of the largest trained teams in the world.
“Now,” Ragna said, “the pegasi are very safe to ride. They are all well-versed in the race course and should require only minimal commands to make it all the way around the track. The track consists of a long sprint across the forest, ending in the waterfall, at which point the pegasi know to jump into the air and fly. If you don’t give them the command in time, they will slow to a stop and never take off, so there is no major danger—but it’s in your best interest to give the command, if you want to win the race.
“Once you take off, the pegasi will fly you around a specific and scenic air path that will take you right to the edge of our designated portion of the Tijuca Forest. Be careful,” she said grinning specifically in Darby’s direction. “If you go past our borders, you’ll be automatically disqualified from the race, and I’ll have to dispatch some of our cloaking team to modify some earthlie minds. Remember, this is a vacation spot for many earthlies. The Rio de Janeiro government only allows us to be here because we maintain secrecy.”
Darby was riding a pegasus named Star Bright and she had already bonded well with him, feeling their connection. She couldn’t wait to take off and wished Ragna would hurry up with the safety instructions.
“The race ends,” Ragna finally said, “when you land back on the landing pad.” She gestured to a long strip of grass that reminded her of an airplane runway. “Keep in mind that landing a pegasi can be the most challenging part, but our team is used to inexperienced riders and will try to keep themselves from crashing, even if they are given bad signaling.”
Ragna smiled at the students, though Darby could see that many of them were not excited by this news. She had a feeling that as cool as Ragna was, her class wasn’t quite as popular as it could be because of the way she made riding a pegasi sound so dangerous.
At least she hadn’t said the phrase, “rad shit.”
“If you wish to participate in the race, bring your pegasi over here.”
Darby immediately prompted Star Bright forward and joined what seemed like only about half the class who intended to race.
She reminded herself of the pertinent parts of the clue in her mind as she moved Star Bright into position.
The next clue lies by land, by air
You’ll know it when you find the square
Go past it and you’ll be nowhere
“Everyone ready?” Ragna called out. “On your mark, get set, go!”
Darby spurred Star Bright forward, hearing pegasi trop into gallops all around her. She raced on land down a hill and around a bend into a large, open field. Flynn jetted out ahead of her, though they had both broken away from the pack. Perhaps if she could get into the air before him…
They galloped through the field and into the plush, green, shaded forest. Despite their rockier surroundings, the shade from the trees only seemed to spur Star Bright to move faster. He seemed to find dodging the trees and branches a fun game, and she could feel his playfulness as he jumped over logs and under coconuts.
They reached the waterfall and watched as Flynn raced for it. When they hit the end, Flynn’s pegasus leapt into the air, just as Ragna described.
As terrified as Darby felt, she had no choice but to keep going. Star Bright seemed to sense her fears and slowed his gallop just slightly as he brought his wings out, ready to leap.
They leapt, flying over a huge valley of trees below. Darby exhaled a breath that she didn’t realize she had been holding.
She had done it! She was flying!
Star Bright seemed to know the way and flapped his long, white wings, taking them higher and into the clouds.
They flew for several minutes, sometimes above the clouds, sometimes below, and Darby could do nothing else but take in the incredible scenery. Green trees and foliage for kilometers, as far as she could see. Bright colored birds dotting the sky, shuffles of land animals below, rustling the flora.
Finally, she had to collect herself and get back to her focus, finding the clue.
She had already traveled by land, and by air. So next was looking for the square.
Where is the clue hidden? she thought in her mind, scanning the trees below.
And then she saw it—a cleared field shaped like a square, still several kilometers away by flight, though they’d be there within minutes.
The only problem? It was at the very edge of the boundary line, which would make it incredibly difficult to navigate to at the speeds they were going.
Go past it and you’ll be nowhere, she recalled. Of course. If she went out of bounds to get the clue, she would fail her assessment—not only for the class, but also for spy school.
She had an idea for how to land. But if it didn’t work, she be in serious trouble with Ragna…
As they neared the square, she prodded Star Bright to spin upside down, hoping they could swoop in just at the boundary line. He flew them close to the edge and she spurred him to fly along the vertical boundary, down into the square.
“Whoa, boy,” she said as they came very close to going out of bounds. She pulled on his reigns and he slowed his speed, swooping into the field and nearly crash landing them just before one edge of the tree lines.
When she had caught her breath, she dismounted and gave him a carrot, which he took gratefully.
Then she looked up to find the clues and spotted them easily. Flynn had his pegasus parked just underneath one of them and was scrambling up a ladder attached to the trunk to reach the envelope, which was hanging from a tall tree’s branch.
She transported to the tree next to his and climbed the ladder rung for rung. She was not a fast climber, but she managed to snatch one of the envelopes as well. She looked down, where Flynn had already touched ground and was now texting on his phone.
What was he doing?
She took the ladder back down, jumping the last several rungs, just as he positioned himself under the tree to the other side of hers.
She raced over to him and grabbed the back of his shirt, stopping his ascent. “Are you taking another clue?”
He reached back and pulled her hand from him. He glared at her, then turned back to the ladder, moving up another several rungs.
He was taking another clue, she realized. And he had probably texted either his sister or Mei Li or both to tell them not to come to the square, that he would pick up their envelopes for them.
“That’s such bull,” she called up to him angrily. “We’re each supposed to do the assessment individually. You’re cheating.”
“It’
s none of your business,” he called down. “Take your clue and go. Win the race, I don’t care.” He went back to climbing for the second clue.
She knew she should just leave, but all she could do was stand there, rooted in place, furious at his dismissal of her.
“Can’t your sister get her own clue?” she called up to him again. “Or is she only good for poisoning my household, landing my friends in the hospital, on your behalf?”
She knew she was taunting him unfairly, but she didn’t care.
He reached the top of the ladder, snatched the second clue, and jumped back down, landing gracefully in front of her.
“My sister would never do that,” he said, tucking the clue in his jacket. He turned away from her, before pausing and turning back. “You know, you grew up a Fitzgerald, so it’s probably hard for you to understand that normal people don’t go around poisoning others.”
She scoffed. “You’re serious? I thought you were being smart by getting your innocent-looking younger sister to do your dirty work, but now I think you really believe that she had nothing to do with it.”
“Of course she didn’t,” Flynn said. “What reason would she have for poisoning your lady-in-waiting?”
“Umm… I don’t know. Power or death, which she apparently learned from her brother?”
“You know, you have a real problem questioning my sister. Your parents are the worst kind of people. They murdered my parents and tried to murder my sister and me.”
“Your parents were terrible people—terrible rulers—and they created their own downfall—”
“Are you delusional?” he asked. “Completely mental?” He stepped closer to her, his eyes full of rage. “Our parents used to be best friends. They pretended to be loyal right up until a day or two before they slit my parents throats. They betrayed them to take what was ours, what belonged to my family. My family. Me. Teagan. Did they tell you we had peace when they took my family? Did they tell you anything? Did you bother to learn for yourself, or do you just let them manipulate you the same way they manipulated my parents?”
“No,” Darby said, her entire body shaking. “None of that is true. My parents wouldn’t lie to me. They said that your parents were terrible, were leading the leprechauns in a bad direction—”
He laughed, though it came out hollow, like he had a dry clump in his throat. “Ask them then. When you go home, make them tell you exactly what my parents did to deserve what they got.”
She glared at him, her chest heaving, like she could have a panic attack at any minute.
“You know your father, Darby.” He turned away from her. “You know his inclination toward brutality over diplomacy.”
She inhaled and exhaled slowly, trying to regain control of her body. After several seconds, she opened her mouth.
“Fine. I’ll ask him.”
She turned around without another word and remounted her pegasus. Star Bright could feel how angry she was; he neighed in empathy and absorbed some of her pain.
“Thank you, boy,” she told him, stroking his mane.
He raised his wings and lifted off, curving upside down around the barrier and spinning them upright.
They made good time back and, though Ragna had said the landing was the hardest part, Darby had very little trouble with it after the other landing she and Star Bright had pulled off to get to the square. They were greeted by Ragna and a few other students who had either returned from the race without finishing, or had decided not to take off in the first place.
“You’re first!” Ragna exclaimed. In a lower voice, she asked, “Did you find everything you were looking for?”
Darby nodded, which earned her a beaming smile from Ragna.
She put on her best face and feigned enthusiasm as more students filtered in, including Flynn, Mei Li, and Teagan.
She had beaten all three of them, but the victory tasted like ashes in her mouth.
Were her parents the real monsters? Had they betrayed their closest friends just to gain power, as Flynn had suggested?
His words turned over in her head until she had to force herself to stop.
Right now her focus needed to stay on her assessments and finding Fiona’s attacker. She couldn’t investigate the matter from Alanza anyway. She needed to go home for that.
She snuck away from the group and opened the envelope.
Congrats! You’ve earned a second chance
You’ll get it at the second dance
Watch closely though, or else we fear
Your final clue will disappear
The time is near
What did that mean?
10
Darby had puzzled over the clue with her ladies that night and into the next morning, and they had come to a few conclusions.
They believed Darby would find the last clue later that night at the Fim Ball, which, if you counted a small bit of dancing after the presenting ceremony, which Darby hadn’t had time for, could be considered the second dance of the week.
The Fim Ball honored the students reaching the end of assessments and orientation. But while the dance was meant to be celebratory, Darby felt anything but. She wasn’t done with assessments, and unfortunately, this assessment meant more than the rest combined. They had spent the morning finishing written assessments, and had spent the entire afternoon, which was supposed to be their free time to pack their households, searching for the poisoning bottle shaped like an hourglass that Fiona had described to them.
They started out looking through the dumpsters with the help of Darby’s connection to a pack of rats. Then they used Brielle’s special access to the china and glassware stores—new, as she had passed her own assessment into a secret school for learning entertainment—to see if either the cup or the bottle could be found inadvertently on the shelves. Finally, Quinn used one of her newfound political connections to get an upperclassman escort through the secret passages of the school around the start of supper, after Griffin spotted Teagan and Flynn leaving their rooms.
While most students knew that there were secret passages in the school, few knew of the many hidden entrances, and even fewer dared to attempt them. The passages were incredibly dangerous to navigate alone.
The escort had shown them to a back hallway of the Cormac household, which was smaller comparatively to her own. He gave them ten minutes, and at great risk to their places at Alanza, all three of them snuck into Teagan’s room to search. They made it out just before one of the maids saw them, to their great relief.
Unfortunately, all of these avenues turned them up empty-handed.
Darby entered one of the great halls where the Fim Ball was being held with no leads on finding more evidence to help Fiona, nor any idea where to start looking for the last clue.
As the ball picked up and she and her ladies scattered, she found herself lingering near Kofi Simmer and his endless stream of stories. Flynn stood nearby as well, perhaps to attempt to win him over some more, or perhaps to distract her from finding another clue.
She did not know if anyone else had made it to the square to claim the fifth clue. With the four of them likely the last four in the running, it wasn’t a terrible strategy. Mei Li and Teagan could search for the clue, while Flynn could distract her from searching.
Or, if none of them had solved the clue, Flynn could follow her to find them, should she know.
She decided to test his motives. She left Professor Simmer’s group to grab a drink, noting that Flynn had followed her.
She took the long way around to get back to the professor’s group, greeting her ladies-in-waiting along the way. Flynn followed, just as she suspected. The first dance of the night came on, to which the Dean and his wife started them off. More couples joined and Darby loudly commented on all the dresses with her ladies-in-waiting.
And yet, Flynn stayed, wallflowering nearby, shooting her those smoldering looks again, like he had his eye on her.
Gotcha, she thought as she made her way back to
Professor Simmer.
“Professor Simmer, hi,” she said, as the song shifted from a playful beat to a slow, sappy love song.
“Darby,” he said, grinning knowingly. “And Flynn,” he called out, gesturing for him to come over.
Flynn looked at them awkwardly, clearly embarrassed that he had been caught standing three meters away, not speaking to anyone or having a purpose. With a flush on his cheeks, he joined them.
“Professor Simmer,” he said. “Darby.”
“You two are young,” Professor Simmer said. “Far too young to let the second dance of the night go to waste.”
He emphasized the words, “second dance” a bit obviously, but it was clear his intention was to clue them in.
Darby looked at Flynn, who appeared to have the same realization she did.
“Tick tock,” Professor Simmer said. “The time is disappearing. Flynn, please escort this beautiful woman to the dance floor.”
Darby looked at him again, expecting him to protest. But instead, his eyes lingered on her and he held out his hand. “Will you join me, Darby?”
She took his hand breathlessly, entirely confused. As they made their way to the dance floor, she whispered to him, “What are you doing?”
He wouldn’t meet her eyes. Instead, he held her waist in his hands, moving slowly around the dance floor, allowing her to wrap her arms around his neck.
Were they really… dancing together?
She had to put it out of her mind and focus. The second song was already half over, and as the poem had said, the second clue would disappear.
They moved toward the middle of the floor, crowded by other couples joining the dance, when suddenly she saw them.
Three envelopes sat underneath the large sparkling mirror ball, just lying on the floor.
He saw them at the same time as her, but she moved faster. She transported toward them, snatching up one just before he attempted to scoop all three.
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