August 12, 1859

August 12, 1859

Dear Lucy,

She did nothing of the sort!  No, your grandmother was not the type to slap people in the face.  It’s just not her thing.  No, she went to meet with Frederick as planned and didn’t mention anything about what Thomas had said about him.

“How are you today, my sweet?” Frederick asked cheerfully.

She just smiled and didn’t answer the question.  “Where are we going today?”

“Same place, only I found a knew way to get there.  Come on, let me show you.”  He took her hand and led her to another tunnel about three hundred yards away.  Looking around carefully, he quickly walked into the tunnel, turning the lantern on lower.  “There are people here sometimes, so we have to be careful.”  Julia nodded and held on tightly to his arm, nervous.

They walked down the tunnel slowly.  It seemed to take hours, but looking back, Julia knew that it was only a few minutes.  She also knew that they weren’t going outside.  It was the wrong direction.  She asked Frederick one time where they were going, but he just smiled and told her that she would see soon.

And she did.

They came to a door, a thick door with a large lock.  Frederick took a key out of his pocket.  Julia wondered where he had gotten a key, but she decided that she didn’t really care, as long as they were going outside.

She was disappointed to where they were.  When Frederick opened the door, he ushered her into the room for her to find that it was an office of sorts.  There were bookshelves against one wall, and a large map covered the one across it.  The other wall, the one across from the door, had a large banner on it of a lion holding the world in its mouth.  Julia was afraid of it, but she didn’t know why.

“Where are we?” she asked.

Frederick smirked.  “It’s my secret hideaway.  I come here to do my work.”

“What kind of work do you do?”

“That’s not important.”

Julia nodded slowly and walked around the room.  There was a large table with eleven chairs.  One chair at the head in front of the banner and five on either side.  The books were all thick and old, with musty smelling pages and leather covers.  The map was of Europe, with the United Kingdom barely fitting on the page.  There dozens of little markings on it.  Julia didn’t understand what they were for.

“What do you think?” Frederick asked her.

“Well, I think I was expecting to go outside.”

He walked towards her.  “We don’t need to go outside.  We can just stay here for a while.  Can’t we?”

Instead of answering his question, Julia slid past him to have a closer look at the books.  The titles were all strange.  Old Magic.  Magic of the Dark Ages.  Magical Beings and Their Secrets.  What was this place?

Then it hit her.  Thomas had been telling the truth.  Frederick was the spy.

She ran to the door, trying to get out, but it was locked.  Frederick came and put his hands on her waist and whispered in her ear, “Do you know what that banner symbolizes?”  Your grandmother shook her head.  “It’s to show what the Mainlanders stand for.  We’re fierce and powerful and dominating, like the lion.  We can hold the world in our grip if we wanted to.  All we need is the Old Magic.  The magic that was lost from our world for so long.”

“You don’t need to hold the world in your grip.  The world’s doing just fine by itself,” Julia whispered.

Frederick snorted.  “Is that why we keep having wars?  We can stop all that, Julia.  All you have to do is join us and find the Old Magic, and you’ll be able to stop the useless bloodshed.”

“I don’t want to help you,” Julia argued, trying to get away.  His grip was too strong.

“I can give you power, Julia.  Unbelievable power.  You’ll never have to want for anything.  If you get angry at someone, instead of running away, you can confront them.  Don’t you want that?”

“No,” Julia replied icily.  “Let me go, please.”

“I can’t do that, Julia.  If you won’t join me willingly, I’m going to have to force you.  Now please, let’s do this the easy way.  For me.  For you.”

“I’m not joining you,” she replied, trying to stomp on his foot.  He moved out of the way and raised his hand to hit her when. . . .

I think it’s a good place to stop.  Now what do you think about Frederick?  Do you still like him as much as Thomas?

Sincerely, Safiya

Author's Note

Sorry this one is longer than normal, I just couldn't think of anywhere in there that I could stop normally. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!