And she was worried they would be right, that the message would be cruel. And she was also worried that she was wrong, and there would be no message, and she would look foolish.428 Quietly removing the keys from the peg, Kendra left theroom. She was getting good at sneaking around. Being able to see in the dark certainly helped. Kendra tiptoed down the stairs to the entry hall.
Would there really be a message? In many ways, she would be relieved if the cell wall was blank. What could
Vanessa have to say? A sincere apology? An explanation?
More likely something spiteful. Kendra steeled herself against the possibility.
Whatever the message, it was hers to read. She did not want others going through her mail, at least not until after she had a look.
Kendra took matches from a kitchen cupboard and descended the stairs to the basement. Getting to Vanessa's cell would be simple-they had held her in the fourth cell on the right, not far from the dungeon entrance.
With Mr. Lich watching her, could Vanessa have written much of a message? Maybe. He was only there to prevent her from going into a trance and taking over people. He might not have had his eyes glued to her every second.
Kendra unlocked the iron door to the dungeon and entered. The goblins could make no complaint against her.
They had received six dozen eggs, three live geese, and a goat for aiding Kendra and Seth when they had showed up in miniature. As long as she went straight to Vanessa's cell and then left, visiting the dungeon secretly could not possibly cause any harm. Maybe the idea wasn't quite as
Sethlike as it had seemed.
She unlocked Vanessa's cell and entered. As had become429 routine for Kendra since the fairies had altered her vision, itwas dim but not terribly dark. The cell was like the others she had seen-stone walls and floor, crude bed, hole in the corner for waste. She struck a match and lit the candle, suddenly certain there would be no message.
Beneath the glow of the umite candle, words flared into view, cramped but legible, covering multiple patches of the floor-a much longer message than Kendra had anticipated.
The words were oriented so that they must have been written while Vanessa crouched with her back to the door, with most of the writing concentrated in areas that were hard to see from the little window.
In mounting wonder and alarm, Kendra read the following message:
Dear Kendra,
I have vital information to share with you. Call it a final tutorial, and a parting shot at my treacherous employers. You should have learned the lesson I shared when we first met. What is the textbook Society infiltration?
Set up a threat, then come to the rescue in order to build trust. Errol did it to you and Seth. Then
I did the same thing to you and your grandparents, pretending to be part of the solution rather than the cause of the problem, legitimately helping most of the time until the moment of betrayal arrived. Others have been using that model for a long time, with infinite subtlety and patience. Namely, the Sphinx.430 Your reflex will be to doubt me, and I cannotprove that I am right. My gifts made me privy to secrets that piqued my curiosity, and when I dug deeper, I unearthed a truth that I should have left undiscovered. He suspects I know his secret, which is why he will confine me to the Quiet Box. He would prefer if he could have me executed. I work for him, but I am not supposed to know the identity of my employer. Few know the enigmatic leader of the
Society of the Evening Star. For months, I believe, the
Sphinx has suspected that I have guessed his true identity.
The kind of fraud he is perpetrating could endure only with supreme discretion and meticulous attention to detail. In his mind, I have become a liability.
The Sphinx could have claimed he had a prison that would hold me and impede my powers. He could have taken me with him. And if he had, he would have earned my undying loyalty. At present, I would still be in doubt as to his intentions, but Lich, not fully understanding the dynamics of the situation, hinted about the Quiet Box, and so I scrawl my revenge on the floor.
Consider the coup this is for the Sphinx. As a known traitor, I am a spoiled asset for the Society, and therefore of much less use. He gets to look like the hero and the sure friend of Fablehaven as he locks me in the most secure prison on the property, further obscuring the duplicitous truth. In case his suspicions are correct and I know his true identity, I am permanently out of the equation.431 What else? He frees a prisoner who is undoubtedlya powerful ally! And he walks away with the artifact
I was sent here to retrieve for him!
This could be a fabrication. Keep your eyes open, and time will confirm my version of things. The reason the Sphinx knows so much, and anticipates danger so well, is because he is playing both sides. He is causing the danger, and then providing relief and advice until those perfect moments of betrayal arrive. Who knows how many artifacts he has collected? He has been at it for centuries! Considering his actions at
Fablehaven and in Brazil, he has apparently decided that the time for aggressiveness has arrived. Beware, the Evening Star is rising.
Had he trusted me, his secret would still be safe.
But he spurned me, and underestimated me, and so his secret is revealed. My loyalty is no longer his. I know much more that could be useful to you and your grandparents.