My father took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I can have my intelligence people take a look, but . . . Fitzpatrick was a tutor, correct? I remember him going on about history and theories. The children liked him.” My father looked at Jack. “I know this is an exciting possibility, but we must look at the facts. No one has ever seen this before. What he left you could be a miracle . . . or it could be the ramblings of an incoherent old man.”
“He wasn’t—” I bristled. He didn’t know Mr. Emerson like I did. Like Jack did. He never would have left these clues and put us in danger if he wasn’t sure he was right. The clues being real wasn’t the issue here. “The Order believes in it, too. They tried to kill us to get this information. They did kill Fitz. They took my mom.”
My father tapped the bracelet on his place mat. “The Order is desperate.”
I held out my hand to take the bracelet back, suddenly wary.
“I can keep it for you, if you’d like,” my father said. “Have it examined.”
“No!” I said. Across the table, Lydia coughed and raised her eyebrows, but I didn’t care. “I’ll take it back, please.” When the bracelet was safely returned to my arm, I said, “Whatever’s in the tomb would be good for you, too. Don’t you want to do everything you can to find it?”
“Of course.” My father sat back in his chair. He looked like a king now, about to make a pronouncement. “Avery, as new as this is for you, you’re one of us. Family. And I want you to feel like family, but that means being realistic. It would be wonderful if your clues did lead to the tomb. Miraculous. But there’s more for us to consider.”
My stomach knotted. The family reunion I thought was going so well had suddenly taken a turn I didn’t like at all. “I still find it hard to believe my marrying someone would do anything,” I said.
Lydia held up a hand. “We know marrying you into another family won’t open a portal to an Order-killing death ray in Alexander the Great’s tomb.”
“She’s right.” My father signaled for a refill of his wineglass. “But the union has been a cornerstone of Circle philosophy for centuries. Logically we know nothing magical will happen when a marriage occurs, but there’s more to it. As much as the mandate is about finding the tomb, it’s also about politics. And power. It’s about a united Circle, defeating all its enemies, including the Order.”
“But finding the tomb would be at least as good,” I argued again.
“Maybe.” My father leaned back in his chair. He suddenly looked taller. “But I assume you know about the Order’s attacks on Circle members. Thanks to Dauphin’s little stunt, the Circle knows you exist. We would appear both weak and cruel if we didn’t try to stop the assassination campaign now that the girl we’ve been all waiting for has turned up.”
A server set a plate of some fancy-looking chicken dish in front of me, and I pushed it away. I had to admit I understood his points: to the Circle, fulfilling the mandate was absolutely the right thing to do, and of course I didn’t want anyone else to die. But asking for me to get married wasn’t a small favor.
And then there was the fact that I knew perfectly well who was destined to fulfill the mandate with me, and it was not a son of the twelve. That was the second thing we weren’t telling them.
Lydia and my father were watching me intently, but Cole had procured a pen and started sketching on his cloth napkin.
I shifted, suddenly uncomfortable in the hard chair. Next they’d forbid me to leave the house. I thought of the Order’s text. 13 days. “It’s a lot to think about,” I said. Even if they did actually care about me, to them, this wasn’t strange or wrong. Was coming here a huge mistake after all?
My father must have seen my hesitation, because for just a second, the business look dropped off his face, and his small, sympathetic smile was very father. I tried my best not to let it sway me. “I have a proposition,” he said gently. “I know this is odd for you, and I don’t want you to feel forced into a union with someone you don’t care for. But there are loads of good candidates. I’m confident you could find one you wouldn’t be opposed to.”
Spoken from a place where forcing your daughter to marry someone she doesn’t know is normal.
“There are ten heirs, from ten families,” my father continued.
That made me look up from my plate. “Only ten?”
“The Dauphins had their chance, and they’ve proven they’re not worthy of our trust.”
Oh. Right.
“Order-killing death ray,” Cole interjected, holding up his napkin like it was a canvas in a fine museum. I had to admit, he had talent. The sheer number of dismembered bodies he’d drawn in the past few minutes was impressive.
Lydia batted the napkin down, and Cole smirked. I felt a little bad thinking of my brother as creepy, but there it was.
My father ignored him and went on. The more he talked, the more I realized this was not a plan he’d made up on the spot. “We’ll try to meet one family every day, but some of the traveling will take longer.”