Page 152 of Fortress of Ambrose
I hope this letter reaches you and that you got away somehow.
I just have been meaning to say that I’m sorry we don’t talk much. Father’s shadow always loomed like a storm cloud. It was hard to doanything other than hide from the next boom of thunder. I have failed you as a son. But I’d like to start being a better son now, if you think that’s okay. I understand if not.
Please write back and just let me know that you’re okay. If there is anything I can do to help you, I want to.
Yours,
“Jordy”
Sixty
Quell
When Jordan disappears down the basement steps, I watch until he comes back up, without Ube.
He was rash. Maybe I should have pushed harder to stop him or get in the way. But when Ube admittedstealingthe diadem, hurting Dexler, and knowing what the Dragunhead wanted from Zecky, it was hard to hear much else. Jordan detours to the Sunrise Corridor to meet Erla, and I dash down the stairs. If Jordan sees me challenging him this way, he’ll be heartbroken. I’m not sure how much more his heart can take.
But in my gut, I believe there is more to Ube’s deception. The relationship between him and his sister is strange. She is a mouse around him. But also bluntly disloyal. The others don’t have much to say about him. He was close with Zecky but so quick to switch loyalty and help Jordan. And now he throws his life away to steal the diadem for the Dragunhead? None of this adds up. And if he dies, the truth dies with him.
The hall is dark, but Ube’s yelling can be heard from the bottom of the steps. I find him locked inside a utility closet. Weak shadows thrash in my palm when I draw magic to my fist. But it’s enough to decay the door open.
Ube gapes in fear. His voice is raspy from yelling. He struggles for words.
“Not here.” I drag him down the hall, farther out of earshot of the basement stairs, inside the maezre storage room.
“Why?” he manages.
“That is the first thing you say?”
“I am cursed with a deep need to comprehend.”
“I want the truth you plan to take to your grave.”
His nostrils flare.
“In exchange for your freedom.”
He meets my eyes for the first time since I found him. “You’ll let me go?”
I’ve thought through it a few times. If the Dragunhead is counting on Ube to bring him magic or Jordan, he has failed on both counts. My guess is he will run instead of going back to the Dragunhead empty-handed. Ube on the run doesn’t hurt our cause at all. Him dying with secrets is the greater risk.
“I will lead you out of here myself tonight.”
“What do you want to know?”
“What is it between you and your sister? Are you protecting her?”
Ube groans. “My sister is complicated. She prides herself on honor. I told her there is no honor in business like ours.”
“And what sort of business is that?”
“We sell secrets. Information is our currency.”
“Who isour?”
“Everyone here from Zecky’s neck of the woods. We observe, collecting insight, and sell it to the highest bidder. In your case there is one bidder, and he can pay by guaranteeing us life.”
I go cold all over.
