**Aria's POV**

Three days after sending the letter to Caspian, I was beginning to regret the impulse that had made me write it in the first place.

"You're pacing again," my father observed from his desk where he was reviewing territorial agreements.

"I'm thinking."

"You're worrying about whether young Stormbane will respond to your letter."

"Am I that transparent?"

"Only to people who've known you your entire life."

I stopped pacing and dropped into the chair across from him. "What if he ...