“May I train with Miles tomorrow?”
“Yes, but take the carriage. No running there.”
“All right. Also, um. There’s someone else who wants to train with me. Is that okay, too?”
For some reason, I had a bad feeling about that.
I felt Jeff twitch. He let go of me and slowly turned to face Nonna. “Is it one of our guards?”
“No.”
“Nonna, is it someone from the Third Order?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Who is it? Someone I know?” I asked.
“A man named Mills. He was one of people guarding the crown princess.”
“No. Absolutely not. Don’t get involved with the Third Order under any circumstances. If you want to train, your mother or I will spar with you. And who is this Miles?” Jeff asked.
“The caretaker of the sheep farm. He used to live behind Lady Yolana’s house,” Nonna said.
“Is that true, Anna?”
“Yes. He applied for the job when we posted the notice looking for a caretaker. His family used to run a sheep farm, too. He’s a former soldier,” I explained.
“All right. If you approve of him, then I’m sure it’ll be all right. But Mills is off-limits. Do you understand, Nonna?”
“Yes, I understand.”
Miles had also been associated with the Third Order, but I thought revealing this to Jeff now would just complicate the matter, so I kept quiet.
Nonna nodded silently, then returned to her room.
Looking back on the situation, I should have paid more attention to the expression on her face, especially considering she was at a difficult age.
Parenting was a series of new experiences every day. Nonna was constantly changing, but I had grown complacent and let down my guard, comforted by how obedient she usually was.
The next day around nine in the morning, Nonna announced she was off to train with Miles and took the carriage.
But around noon, Reed returned in a panic. “There’s trouble! Miss Nonna departed the farm long ago. She told Mr. Miles she had another appointment and left at eleven! I’ve searched the streets on my way back, but she’s nowhere to be found!”
“It’s all right, Reed. It’s not your fault. I’ll look for her myself. Prepare my horse, would you? And don’t bother telling Jeff. You can inform him when he gets home once we learn what’s happened.”
“Please let me join the hunt, too, Your Ladyship.”
“No, it’s fine. I can go alone. Stay here, Reed. If Nonna returns, I want you to keep her here and make sure she doesn’t leave the house again.”
“Y-yes, my lady.”
I quickly changed into my riding gear and mounted my horse. My first stop was Chester’s house. Contacting the Third Order would be faster, but I wanted to avoid another run-in with Lord Edward if I could.
Chester looked surprised when he saw me arrive on horseback. “Do you have a message for Mike, Lady Asher?”
“Nonna has gone missing. Last night, she said she wanted to train with a boy named Mills from the Third Order, and my husband forbade it. But she might have gone to him anyway. Could you inquire for me?”
Chester quickly mounted his own horse and dashed off, then returned soon after. “Mills is off duty today. He left saying he’d be back by evening, but no one knows where he went.”
“I see. Chester, I don’t want my daughter getting caught up in the Third Order. Please make that clear to Mills, and Mike, too.”
“Y-yes, of course. But if she’s with Mills, I doubt anything bad will happen to her.”
“Nonna could handle five or ten men herself without a problem. That’s not what I’m worried about. I want to avoid the Third Order taking an interest in her at all costs.”
Chester wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“Y-yes, I understand. I’m sorry.”
“There’s no need to apologize. We don’t know for sure Nonna is with Mills. Besides, this was all her own doing. I’ll search the capital while I head back.”
I left Chester’s house, reiterating it wasn’t his fault but my daughter’s.
I scanned the streets as I rode through the city. There was probably a 99-percent chance Nonna was all right. But in my experience, life had a funny way of throwing that unlucky 1 percent at you sometimes.
During my days as an operative, I’d always taken precautions to avoid the worst outcome, no matter how unlikely, which I believe had contributed to my high success rate.
When I was Nonna’s age, I was too absorbed in my lessons at the academy to think like an ordinary girl. I may have overlooked something obvious.
I reflected on my carelessness. Nonna was at the age when it was typical for children to rebel against their parents.
The capital was vast. Searching without leads was futile, but I figured it was better to do that than stay at home and be irritated at the situation. Treating it as an exercise for both me and my horse, I combed the city until evening but came up empty.
“Maybe she’s back by now.” I convinced myself Nonna must have gotten hungry and returned home.
But the faces of Bertha and Reed when they greeted me at the gates told me otherwise.
“Nonna isn’t back yet?” I asked.
“No, my lady. Shall we contact the city guard?”
“Not yet. Did Chester send any word?”
“No, we haven’t heard a thing.”
“All right. Reed, I need you to deliver a message for me and take it to Chester’s place, which is behind Lady Yolana’s. I’m going to write a letter now.”
Nonna hasn‘t come home yet. If you have any information, please send a message to my house.
Reed left with the letter, and I decided to stay dressed and wait.
“My lady, may I speak with you?”
“Of course, Bertha. What is it?”
“Once, when Miss Nonna was in the garden, a letter arrived. She accepted it and said it was addressed to her. I didn’t check who it was from. I’m terribly sorry. Do you think it could be related to this incident?”
“You don’t know who sent it?”
“No, my lady.”
Jeff came back from the palace around eight o’clock that night. “Why haven’t you contacted the Second Order yet? They specialize in city security. At the very least, you should have contacted the guard.”
I stopped him. Nonna might have caused some kind of trouble. If we got the guards or the Second Order involved, her skills could be exposed to too many people.
You want to avoid that at all costs, my intuition told me.
I explained my reasoning, and Jeff relented, though his worry and anger left him expressionless. I’d never seen him so cold and icy.
Nonna finally returned past ten o’clock accompanied by Mills, who apologized profusely to both Jeff and me.
My daughter was not injured, but the shirt and pants she’d worn to go training with Miles were slashed in several places, exposing her skin.
“Mills used blades on you?” Jeff asked.
“No, he didn’t. But I’m fine.”
Mills opened his mouth to speak, but I raised a hand to silence him.
“Explain what happened at once, Nonna.”
“I’m sorry for being late. Actually, we ran into some bad guys, so we dealt with them and helped someone who was in trouble.”
“That’s quite a simple explanation.”
“I can go into detail, but it’ll be a long story. Is that okay?”
“I want to hear it, no matter how long it takes. I won’t be able to sleep until I hear everything.”
And so, Jeff and I decided to listen to Nonna’s story, asking Mills to stay so he could fill in any gaps. I sent Reed to Chester’s house to let him know Nonna had returned safely along with Mills.
Bertha brought warm milk and bread in for the two of them.
Jeff and I both crossed our arms as Nonna and Mills sat before us. She nibbled on bread and sipped milk as she began recounting the events of the day from the very beginning.
I listened to her story without interrupting, but there were several times when I thought, Hmm, that’s odd. Could it be Nonna and Mills misunderstood something entirely?
When I glanced at Jeff, wondering if he thought the same thing, I saw him furrowing his brow as he looked back at me.