Our time together after that revelation took a stranger, more treasonous turn. I would slip into the castle nearly every night to visit with Minerva. We would chat, kiss, enjoy whatever snacks I had brought, kiss again, kiss some more, do all the things that came naturally after kissing, and then plot the assassination of her entire family.

We had several distinct advantages. For starters, we could move about the castle virtually undetected, thanks to the secret passages of the boy ...