**Guess what!!! It's finals week! Thank goodness I wrote these chapters in advance... stay tuned for more notes at the end of the chapter.**

Chapter 22

Lyla had been having a lovely day by herself on the beach. She'd come across some tide pools and spent most of her morning squishing the sea sponges with her fingers, having a grand old time, until she was ready to tell Ari's sentry that it was alright for him to come out of hiding. She'd assumed Ari would have sent someone after her, but couldn't bring herself to mind, especially in light of the circumstances.

He didn't speak much of her language, but Lyla was content to walk along the beach with him silently, enjoying having a giant bodyguard accompanying her as she went inside each of the shops.

She'd found Eli and Aveline in the marketplace shortly afterwards, each sporting stylish red scarves. Aveline kissed the crewmember on his cheek- Lyla realized with embarrassment that she didn't even know his name- and sent him off to go do something else, Lyla had no idea what. Sometimes Ari's crew seemed to her like a large, dysfunctional family, and Lyla caught herself wishing she could be a part of something like that.

Afterwards, they'd run into Ari and Jamie on the beach, and now, Lyla stood in the mouth of the cave Jamie said they'd found. Seawater rushed into the parts that it could reach, but the tide was low and there lay a large pocket of sand, well-hidden by the thick, mud-colored walls of the cavern.

Someone had used the area as a living space. Rumpled quilts spread out on the sand. There was a large stack of books, and parchment papers nailed to the cave walls. A thin trail of smoke fizzled from a candle that had just been blown out.

"They left in a hurry," Aveline muttered, kneeling down to roll the blackened wick between her fingers.

"That's because Ari chased them down," Jamie supplied helpfully as Aveline eagerly snatched at one of the books on the ground.

Ari reddened. "They got away." Lyla could understand his frustration, but sometimes it seemed that Ari unnecessarily intensified every emotion he ever felt. Which explained a lot about him, now that Lyla thought about it...

"Who cares?" Aveline closed the book with a snap, cutting him off. "You and Jamie may have just found the kidnappers' hideout, and... " she stopped suddenly, her gaze clasping onto something just behind Ari. "What's that?"

She shouldered past her friend to the other side of the wall, and Lyla nearly tripped over her skirts following her.

For a moment, Lyla couldn't figure out what Aveline was looking at. Dozens of faded pages had been nailed into the hardened clay. She stepped closer, trying to discern some of the faded letters, but most of the papers only contained various dark scribbles with names and places she didn't recognize.

Something that Lyla guessed had used to be a map had been pinned up as well, but someone had spilled over most of it with dark ink to the point of illegibility.

She could feel heavy breathing over her shoulder as the others crowded around the rock. Finally Lyla followed Aveline's pointed finger as it stretched towards one of the discolored pages.

Lyla couldn't tell what it was, at first. If she had to guess, it looked like some sort of list. Two columns, haphazardly scrawled on both sides of the pages... full of names.

The handwriting was messy and blurred, but Lyla had spend enough hours poring over all of the monarchical records to recognize them.

"Those are the names of the missing royals," she gasped, not really caring if she was stating the obvious.

Jamie took a sharp intake of breath behind her shoulder. "All of them?"

Aveline nodded emphatically. "Ari and I have them all circled in a book back on the ship. I definitely recognize a few of these. There's no way you could forget 'Dorcas-'"

"Prince Dorcas," Lyla corrected. "It's definitely a list of all the kidnapped princes and princesses. But what are the names on the other side?" On the right side of the page the list continued, but most of the names were smudged and blurred out, and the ones that were legible Lyla didn't recognize. Names like Nell, Ailee, Elrin. A bit short and the spelling was odd; Lyla could only guess they came from some distant kingdom.

"So they were here," Ari said under his breath. "But what..."
A small sound behind her caught Lyla's attention, and she cast a glance over her shoulder to see Jamie slowly backing away. Her slippers shuffled in the sand until she reached the other wall, where she sank to the ground. She let her head fall against the hard surface behind her, and Lyla watched her eyes tightly close.

"Jamie?" Lyla pretended not to notice as Ari hurried towards her, something that might have been concern tinging his sandpaper expression, but Lyla wasn't sure. "What's wrong?"

Jamie's hesitation was thick and palpable in the echoing stillness of the cave. The only sound was the waves lapping lazily against the sand as Ari curled over her in worry, and Eli and Aveline's quiet tones as they politely faced the other direction and conversed about the list.

Finally she took a breath. "I was afraid of this."

Lyla strained to hear Ari's whispered response. "Afraid of what?"
Jamie weakly lifted her head. She said nothing.

Ari's tone soured. "You obviously know something, so why don't you just tell us?"

"And you obviously want to believe that I'm somehow a villain in all of this," Jamie said defensively. "I don't think anything I can say can convince you otherwise."

"Actually, I don't think you've said anything at all."

"Oh, don't act as if you're not the most private person in this room. You barely have two words to say about your own childhood-"

Ari darkened. "You don't know anything about me," he flared, harshly. Lyla flinched, and as she felt Aveline tense beside her, she realized that she, too, was listening. Though it was difficult not to; Lyla wondered if either Jamie or Ari realized that their voices had risen substantially.

"See?" Jamie sneered. "And here I thought we were beginning to trust each other."

"Don't think, for one second, that I trust you."

For once, Jamie had no quick retort. Her following pause sounded almost hurt, and finally Aveline whirled around.

"Stop it." Her words sliced through the damp and rigid air. "Ari, let Jamie alone."

For a moment Ari looked as if he wanted to argue, but he slunk away at Aveline's stern glare, his hands clumped into tight fists at his sides.

"I found something." For once, it was the perfect time for Eli to interrupt. Feeling rather awkward, Lyla gratefully turned towards the distraction. Eli held one of the folded papers up to his eyes. "Lyla, this has your name on it."

Lyla's heart skipped. "Let me see that." She snatched the parchment from his hands, a faded scrap of material. It was just a newsprint, but on the blank side of the page someone had scrawled, simply; Lyla. The handwriting was twisted and messy... and familiar. "Tristran," she murmured. Everyone's heads seemed to shoot up at the same time. "'It has to be from Prince Tristran." She glanced up at her audience, shaking the paper excitedly. "Right?"

"Well, what does the note say?" Ari demanded.

"I don't know." Lyla turned over the page, unfolding and refolding it again. "It's just a page torn out of an old geography book." The words made no sense to her; they were only names of kingdoms and random historical facts. Dismayed, Lyla dropped the paper at her sides. She took a breath to dispel the sudden rush of frustration that briefly surprised her.

"May I see it, Lyla?" Lyla realized she was tightly clenching the page in her fist and handed it to Aveline. Ari peered over her shoulder, curiosity softening the vexed expression in his dark eyes.

"If it has Lyla's name on it, then it must be important," he insisted. "Give me that."

"I had it first!"

"Actually, Eli had it first-"

When it seemed Ari and Aveline were going to be bickering over the document for a while, Lyla made herself comfortable on the sand and picked up one of the other books. She felt helpless all of a sudden, not knowing what she could possibly do to help.

She brushed a few globules of dirt off of the tattered cover, determined to make herself useful. The volume read A History of the Detache, and with the title brought a sense of dread that reminded Lyla of her horrid lessons with her governess. She ached as she remembered having to stand ramrod straight while curtsying and reciting the names of the full line of Apreuna monarchs all at once. Mainly because of that particular governess, Lyla had fallen into a habit of losing focus when she read.

Her eyelids began to weigh her down as soon as she read the first line, and Lyla had dozed off by the end of the page.

She awoke to the sound of muffled voices and wood crackling, and opened her eyes.

The cave was dark save for a small fire someone had made on the ground, the warmth of it reaching for Lyla's fingers and toes. Eli was sprawled out on his stomach beside it, and Jamie's eyes were closed as well as she reclined against the wall.

Only Aveline and Ari were awake, Lyla could see, mumbling hushedly to each other as they sat on the sand. Ari's hands were smeared with ink from a quill that he held, occasionally scrawling something on a page in the book in front of him. Next to him, Aveline's chin was propped up in her hands, her eyes glued to the parchment Eli had found.

"Lyla," Ari greeted without looking up; Lyla had no idea how he did that.

"Good evening, Lyla," Aveline chirped, cheerful as usual.
Lyla curled her feet into herself— the fire was too hot. "What are you two doing?"

"We're trying to decipher Tristran's note."

Lyla blearily rubbed at her eyes. "When is the last time either of you slept?"

"Three days ago, I think?" Ari shrugged, unconcerned, and they both seemed to have their usual energy despite the faint circles under their eyes. "But, see, we're getting close. Some of the letters have been bolded over with pen. We think Tristran wrote in code."

"Jamie gave us the idea," Aveline put in, grinning towards the other girl, whose eyes had opened and glowed in the dark, like a cat's— Lyla hadn't even realized she was awake. Jamie flushed and turned her attention down to her hands.

Ari looked away. "Anyways, we've made out some of the words. Come see."

Lyla climbed to her feet, stumbling tiredly over to them in her eagerness.

On the page Eli found, Aveline had circled some of the letters on the text— when Lyla looked closer, she could see that the circled ones had been previously darkened with ink. Ari had written the inked characters on another sheet, and Lyla realized with surprise that the isolated letters, when put together, formed sentences.

Lyla
If what I've heard is correct, then you are on your way to rescue me. The irony of this may very well be lost on you.
I can write very little, as we are kept under close watch. We are all safe. They are treating us very well— I fear they plan to keep us for a long time.
They know they are being followed. We constantly move from kingdom to kingdom, but I have a feeling that our next stop may be our last.
Tell my mother that I'm sorry. What is happening now is my fau-

"L... T," Aveline read aloud.

"Fault," Ari exclaimed triumphantly. "There." He threw down the quill and cracked his knuckles. "I still can't believe he wrote in code. That's rather smart. You know, for a spoiled prince."

Lyla knelt down besides them, her eyes widening. "That was awfully cryptic. And he's not making any sense. How does he know we're coming? What irony? And what does he mean by his 'fault'?"

"I'm not sure. Wait, there's more," Aveline said excitedly. "They're numbers. 517." She frowned. "What could that mean?"
Lyla wasn't sure. "A date, perhaps?"

Aveline read out the rest of the letters while Ari copied them down. When they were finished, it was clear Tristran had only left one final line:
517, midday, the clock tower, Diviel.

"May seventeenth," Aveline decided. "It is a date."
"What's supposed to happen then?"

"I don't know. Perhaps he wants to meet." Lyla wondered why they had settled in Diviel. The last few places they'd been to were established and affluent, but Diviel was a small, relatively poor kingdom located next to Kibet, and they didn't often get visitors.

Ari didn't seem so sure. "It could be a trap."

"Well, I think it's worth the risk," Aveline declared. "Lyla, what do you think?"
Lyla had no doubts. "We should definitely go."
"Jamie?"
"I agree," she said quietly from the corner.
"Ari?"
"Fine."

"Then it's settled." Aveline beamed, throwing the paper down with a soft clatter. "We go to Diviel. If we leave in a few days, we should be able to get there in time. Also, someone should probably wake Eli up," she continued. "I'm worried he's going to choke on his own drool."

May seventeenth. They had a week.

Perhaps in Diviel, they would see Tristran. Perhaps then, they could finally find out what was happening.

**Soooooo... classes are over after this week. Since I'll have a lot more free time, I'm thinking of posting twice a week instead of once. I haven't decided for sure if I'm doing it/what days I would post, but it would probably be around Tuesdays/Fridays, something like that. Idk. We'll see!!**