***Cassius***
I ran through the castle corridors without caring who saw me, straight to the small office in the administrative wing where servants sorted and dispatched letters across the empire.
I had to get that letter back, the one where I'd tried, far too late, to bridge the gap I'd spent twenty years helping to create.
That letter couldn't go to him now, not after what had happened, not after the decree.
The steward looked up in surprise when I burst through the door, his expression shifting quickly from startled to concerned as he took in my face. Whatever he saw there, whatever desperation or fear was written plainly across my features, made him straighten immediately.
"My lord," he said, bowing quickly. "How can I assist you?"
"The letter," I said, and my voice came out breathless from running and from the panic squeezing my chest. "I sent a letter yesterday evening addressed to Lord Cadiz Ashforde at Ravenshollow. I need it back, it can't be delivered."
