September 6, 1859

September 6, 1859

Dear Safiya,

I’m actually feeling a bit better.  I have done nothing but rest for four days straight, so I think I’m just going to continue on with what happened.

After I fell asleep, I assume that Jaime’s family finished up with the meeting.  As soon as it was over Jaime woke me up and told me that I had to go somewhere.  I looked over to the doorway and saw that they were all leaving besides him.  I thought that he would let me go and I would be able to forget about this whole incident and never talk to him again, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me over to the banner.

Apparently it was used not only as a coat of arms, but also to hide things that people didn’t want to be found.  Behind the coat of arms was a door, and that was where Jaime led me.  Down into the tunnels we went, with only a small candle that he brought to lead us.

It was starting to seem a lot like what you described from where Frederick took Grandma, so I thought that maybe, hopefully, he was just taking me a different way out, but I should have known that that was not the case.  Jaime led me to a small room with a small bed and a desk and a lantern to light it.

“You’ll be staying here until we decide what to do with you,” Jaime informed me coldly.  “We’ll bring you food twice a day, and in return you’re going to give us answers.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I replied.

“Think about it,” was all that he said before leaving me.

So I was left in that room to think about things that I couldn’t even begin to understand.  I was starting to piece things together, sort of.  Grandmother and I were both subjects of the Mainlanders, and I assume that Grandmother’s uncle disappeared because he was running from the Mainlanders.  But what could they want with us?  I didn’t know.  So I just had to sit there and try to piece things together until someone told me answers.

I was sitting in my “room” until that evening, when Jaime came back to give me food.  I told him, “I’m not giving you anything until you tell me what’s going on.”

“You mean you don’t know?” he asked just as coldly as before.

“Of course not.  No one has told me anything important in my life,” I snapped back.  “Why did you kidnap me?”

“We need you to find something for us,” he said.  “And you’re not leaving here until you do.”

“I can’t do that without some information first.”

He sighed.  “I’m not supposed to tell you, Lucy.”  Jaime thought for a minute, and for a moment I was in danger of falling in love with him all over again.  I know what you’re going to say, I’m only fourteen and fourteen year old girls aren’t supposed to fall in love, but I just couldn’t help myself.

Finally Jaime asked, “Okay, do you know anything about a prophecy?”

I had to think back to your letters.  I remembered you telling me about them, but I couldn’t really remember.  “Sort of.  Something about a certain family bringing back the Old Magic?”

He nodded.  “So you do know.  What else?”

“I don’t know much.  The only other thing I know is that, supposedly, the family is going to bring back the Old Magic into the world, and whoever is their ally will have the power to control everything,” I said.  “And that the Mainlanders, which I’m assuming you are, want to have the power all for themselves, so are going around kidnapping innocent, ordinary girls to try to see if they’re from the family.”

Jaime laughed viciously.  “You’re anything but ordinary, Lucy.”

“What are you talking about?”

He looked at me, and I saw something in his eyes that made me shrink away from him.  He told me, “You’re part of the family.”

I have to go again.  The twins want to play tag with me.  I’ll write more later.

Love, Lucy