So much had happened since Aria had started her journey the night before, and she tried to tamp down the emotions she was feeling: worry for her uncle, confusion over Alexander’s appearance at her home at such an hour, and stress from the weight of her purpose now firmly on her shoulders. Knocking on the door, she said another quick prayer for her uncle.

Her uncle’s beloved friend greeted her and ended her short-lived hope that perhaps all was well.

“I thought you were still asleep. I didn’t realize you were out,” Robert said, not questioning directly, but the look in his eyes did little to hide his curiosity about her whereabouts.

“Yes, I went for an early morning walk in the woods. To clear my head.” Aria strived to always tell the truth, but she didn’t dare share more information against her uncle’s wishes. And I have been on a walk in the woods, she thought to herself.

Robert glanced at the box she had tucked under her arm but seemed to accept her story, or he lacked the will to pursue it further. “Well, he’s been asking for you. He actually said he will not die until he sees you again,” he said, an air of sad resignation in his voice. She thanked him, only partially present in the moment, the other part of her still at the fire. The news would arrive at some point, but for now, she said nothing. She took her leave and moved toward the bedroom.

She heard her uncle’s labored breathing even before she entered his room. At least he had survived the night.

Aria pushed the door open, the hinges’ squealing announcing her presence.

Her uncle’s piercing, questioning eyes met hers. She looked down, afraid of losing him.

“You have it?” he asked with a surprisingly strong voice, though the usual baritone was replaced with a raspy tone.

She nodded. “How are you…?”

He silenced her with a wave of his hand. “Let’s not waste the precious time and words I have left on my condition. I’m glad it’s here,” he said, gazing at the box.

She looked at him again, and instead of feeling the weight of responsibility, she only felt a deep love for the man who had taught her everything worth knowing. She smiled at him, willing herself to be strong.

“The manuscript must be protected. It represents tremendous power, and I still need to…”

Midway through the sentence, he coughed loudly, a spell that lingered for a few minutes. The strength she had seen in him now seemed to wane as he gasped for a breath and his eyes closed.

She walked closer to the bed, took his hand, and then stroked his face, tracing the weathered lines of a life now ebbing. He must have been up all night, worrying. Only a minute later his eyelids closed, heavy, and seconds later he was asleep. Aria knew not how long he would live. She wanted to ask him what to do, where to go, and how and whether to warn the Nine.

She slumped into a chair next to the bed, pulling a small blanket up to her chest and maintaining a vigil. Her uncle’s presence and his rhythmic snoring somehow soothed her nerves. Exhausted, Aria dozed off herself.

In her dreams, her mind replayed her first meeting with Alexander. Alexander was thrust into her life with such power, an unexpected surge of energy. He was tall, imposing, his smile bright and yet slightly off center. He had only recently moved into town, a former soldier, who left the army with distinction and unusual humility since he would talk so little about his own wounds in service. Now he was working as an apprentice and learning a new trade. His left arm and shoulder clearly gave him trouble, but his injury did not define him. Their first glance turned into a gaze and seemed to her like destiny, something she had longed for.

Her uncle welcomed the courtship and, as she pictured these last few weeks, she mostly remembered the laughing. He was a master storyteller and regaled her with tales from distant lands. Now all of it was suspect. Was everything that had happened these last few weeks a ploy to get close to her and then steal her uncle’s book? What else could he have been doing in the middle of the night? She tossed and turned, her unconscious mind searching for answers just out of reach.

In her dream, Alexander faded away, and then the other man came into the picture. She could see the marks on his skin, the oil in his hair, and she smelled the foulness of his breath as if he were right in front of her. It was like she was seeing him from an angle above. She shivered as she watched him, his sneer not hiding the evil within.

Who was this man?

She awoke in a daze, not recognizing the room, her vision slowly coming into focus.

She looked over to her uncle’s bed and then leapt up. The bed was empty! And the manuscript box was missing!

The recognition of what happened stung her; though expected, it still caught her off guard. She put her hand on his pillow, which was still warm.

The door creaked open and she spun around.

Her mouth dropped open and yet no sound came out.

Uncle Raymond’s eyes twinkled at her as he reached out and brushed a stray strand of her auburn hair from her face. As he did this, she reached for his hand and grasped it, not quite certain whether she was seeing an apparition or if a miracle had truly happened.

“I thought you were gone,” she said, managing a smile, feeling for appropriate words.

Her uncle’s mouth curved into that classic smile of his, the one she had feared she would never see again. For a moment, she thought perhaps she was still in her own bed, dreaming, imagining his visage.

His words soothed her. “Aria, the sickness tried to take me, but you know your old uncle. I’m not going anywhere until I’m ready and my work is done.” His words and subsequent laugh were stronger than they had been in days, though she could hear the hoarseness still lingering. “I know I have limited time, but my hour has not yet come. There’s still much to be done! And I can think of no one better than my beautiful, brave niece to accomplish the task ahead.”

Aria blushed. Pushing a stray hair from her eyes, she turned to her uncle. “Uncle, I try to be brave at all times. I try to not doubt. I just want it to end soon. And I don’t want to fail you.”

In her uncle’s eyes, Aria saw understanding. His head bobbed slightly up and down. “It’s our duty to protect the secrets for now. The manuscript can change the balance of power.”

“Uncle, there were many men arriving at the house. I’m not sure how you knew when they would be coming, but I made it just in time.” She swallowed, not wanting to give voice to her fear of betrayal. “I think Alexander is involved somehow. I don’t want to think it, but he was there with the other men this morning.”

Uncle Raymond’s eyes widened as he weighed this news. “One step at a time, my dear Aria.” This new information was clearly unwelcome, and yet he didn’t dwell on it. “We have much to do, much to do.”

As her uncle said this, his gaze shifted over her left shoulder, through the paned glass onto the house gate. “I have sent a message to the Nine, but I must work on the transition. We need to retrieve the Three Laws of the Keeper.”

“Three Laws of the Keeper? What?”

“Aria, the Keeper has a serious position as the leader and protector of the Nine. There are laws that are universal truths, but carry more power as a leader.”

“Uncle Raymond, I love you. I do. I want to do what you ask, but I don’t understand any of this. Everything is happening too fast. And you need to be resting—you still aren’t well.”

“Time is a swift current pulling us along with unmatched power. Much as we wish, we cannot stop or slow it. But let’s not talk about this now. They’ll be coming to tell us of the fire. Let them think I’m convalescing in bed. Let’s go. Believe me, my friends can well handle them.” He gestured out to the window overlooking the field in front of the house, and she saw the group of men immediately. Her heart jumped.

“That’s one of them!” she said in a whispered but urgent tone. An involuntary shudder ran through her body. “He is the man who was speaking to Alexander.”

Uncle Raymond followed her eyes and saw him. “That’s Ulrick,” he said flatly. “I’m not surprised. I sure hope Alexander isn’t mixed up with the likes of him. He’s been trying to get the book and learn its secrets for years now.”

“Wait! Oh, no. There he is. Alexander is with him,” Aria said in a whisper with more than a hint of sadness in her voice.

At that moment, a loud knocking started at the front door, urgent, demanding. Uncle Raymond made a sign with his hand, signaling quiet, and pointed to the far hall. She understood. Even as a little girl, they had rehearsed exits, escape routes, signals. He routinely scouted everything when he arrived in a new building. She used to think that it was all for her entertainment, games invented to amuse her.

Now she knew differently. She had seen it for herself. Preparation meant everything. She shouldn’t be surprised that he had mapped out this home long before. She found herself doing the very same thing, the result of a lifetime with her beloved uncle Raymond.

With a shake of her head, she followed her uncle. He took a slight deviation from the normal route to the back door, slipping to the right. He pulled one of the framed pieces of art off the wall and tucked it under his arm. It was smaller than the other pieces, and oddly out of place now that she was paying attention.

She prayed to the Almighty as they slipped out the back entrance, thanking God for her uncle.