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"Yes And you’ve been assessing the mission under a false assumption One I hesitated to correct you about"

I braced for his revelation "Go on"

"I’ with you This is your o, I would have been terrified by his statement Instead, only a nauseous anxiety swirled I pointed to the forht?"

"Mission over You’ll have to deal with the con sequences"

Meaning no rescue More than enough incentive to avoid capture I tapped the paper "I don’t have the resources to forge that document or the oing in alone, doesn’t " He sed into a chair

Valek druers on the table as he considered "Will you be able to handle the role? You’ve had some awful experiences"

"I can do it" I assured him and myself I had to do it No other options remained

"Good You have co" He pulled a small box from his pocket and handed it to e with care, I half expected the contents to be another one of his tests Nestled inside the box was a black cylinder It was only a few inches long and as round as a coin A glass ball filled one end and the other was hollow and had a slight lip

Seeing my confusion, Valek plucked the object from my hand and pulled on the lip The cylinder extended into a foot-long tube

"It’s a spyglass" He held the hollow end up to his right eye and closed the other eye "It brings distant objects closer" Valek gave it back to lass at a lantern and squinted through the tube "Incredible Thanks" I lowered the gift "Do you give these to all your students?"

"No Each person is unique I enjoy finding so that lass fitin the present It’s a relass in the right direction"

During the next five days, I checked off my to-do list Councilor Moon hired a new assistant and I trained her I sub training sessions, I told Nic and Eve I would be traveling to Hubal for a feeeks No surprise Nic grumped at me, and when it was time for them to report to work, I touched Eve’s sleeve and asked her to stay behind as the other guards went inside