“Just come with me, love. Trust me.” He let go of my wrist and held out his hand. I took it and followed him as he walked us through the solid glass of the mirror, against all better judgement and rational thought.
It feltlike walking under a sheet of cold water and sent a frisson down my spine. Ciaran held my hand tightly as he led me into a darkened stone corridor behind the mirror. He whispered something; several small lights that looked like fireflies appeared in his palm. He sent them ahead of us, twinkling like stars in the distance.
I didn’t say a word as I followed him. Eventually we came to a spiraling, crumbling stone stairway. The floating lights descended, and we followed. Down and around, down and around, for what seemed like hundreds of steps. We walked in silence, Ciaran still gripping my sweaty hand in his calloused one; I didn’t dare pull away. I had never even known thispassage, deep beneath the opera house, existed. But the opera house was old and held many secrets.
“Where are we going?” I whispered, once we had gone far enough that I was sure absolutely no one could hear.
“I’ll explain when we get there,” Ciaran replied, voice like gravel. He still wouldn’t risk answering. I opened my mouth to insist that he provide answers, but Ciaran stopped suddenly. We had reached the bottom of the stairs.
The corridor ended at a small canal. An underground canal. And there was a raft—barely large enough for two people—chained to the wall. A rudimentary raft, with a long pole for rowing. Ciaran finally let go of my hand and motioned for me to get on. I snapped.
“You have to tell me what’s going on. I’m not just going to follow you onto a raft under the goddamn opera house! Someone just broke into my dressing room while you hid us in shadows. We walked through a goddamned mirror, and I’m supposed to just trust you, when your picture is in the paper as a wanted criminal? Tell me what is going on, or I’m turning around and going straight back up!” It was an idle threat, and he knew it. There was no way I was going back up there. Not after what those men had said.
“If I wanted to hurt you, I’ve had plenty of opportunities, Seraphina,” he said in that deep rumbling voice. The way he said my name sent shivers through me. “Trust me. I’m not your enemy.” He said it likeIwas the one being ridiculous.
“But you can do magic.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yes. And so can you. At least, you will be able to once you’ve learned to harness your gift.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Magic was eradicated. And why should I trust you? You are literally kidnapping me.” It had been running through my head thewhole way down the stairs, my rational mind screaming. I had no idea where he was taking me or what his motives were.
Ciaran sighed, rolling his eyes, as if he were explaining this to a small child. “You can return to the opera house tomorrow when your friends are around, I promise. Everything will be safer in the daylight. I’m not kidnapping you. But you cannot return tonight. Magic was never eradicated, and those who wield it are still hunted. Those men won’t stop looking for you.” He gestured toward the surface, fury limning his beautiful features. “When they don’t find you at the theatre, they will look for you at your home.”
Ciaran turned those multi-faceted eyes to me once more, and I wondered if he was using some kind of magic to compel me, because I believed him. Against all logic and reason, I believed him. He was right, after all—if he had ill intentions, he’d had plenty of opportunity to enact them. And those men had broken in looking for me. There was no denying the fact that he had saved me from them.
“Fine,” I said quietly. I still had so many questions, but it seemed like we would have time, the whole night even, to discuss them. So, thankful for my ballerina’s balance, I climbed into the front of the small raft, careful not to tip it lest I be sent into the canal. Ciaran stepped onto the back, taking hold of the large pole to steer us toward... wherever we were going.
Slowly, we made our way through the canal. The stone walls surrounding us were narrow in some places and more open in others. Ciaran, from his place on the back of the raft, could have reached up a hand and brushed the low ceilings. We passed other tributaries along the way, branching off occasionally, under curved stone archways.
“What is this place?” I asked Ciaran as we continued onward. My teeth chattered in the damp and cold. I was still dressed inmy club attire—I should have grabbed a cloak or something from the costume rack before we ran.
“There are many underground canals beneath the city. Very few people know about them,” Ciaran explained, while he stood, steadily propelling us through the water. He wore a simple black sweater and black pants, which accentuated just how muscular he was, even in the faint glow of the magical lights bobbing ahead of us.
“Where doesthis onelead?” I asked.
“You’ll see,” he said with a half-smile. It was the first time his features had lightened that evening.
We continued gliding through the water in silence for a few more minutes. The canal widened, opening into a much larger chamber—a cistern beneath the city. It was so enormous that I momentarily forgot how cold I was and just marvelled.
The ceiling above the Cistern was higher than the canals—so high I could barely make out where it was in the flickering lights that Ciaran cast.
I must have gasped because Ciaran said, “I know. It’s impressive. I still remember my first time down here.”
“How is it here?” I wondered aloud. It didn’t seem possible for this chamber to be underneath the hum and thrum of Lutesse above.
“I don’t really know,” Ciaran admitted. “I think it eventually connects to the Sequana. Again, not many know about its existence.”
“Are you going to kill me and dump my body in here?” I blurted. It was a fair question. It would be a perfect crime.
Ciaran laughed, a deep and hearty sound that rumbled the whole boat. “Good Goddess no, Seraphina. I told you—I’m not your enemy.”
“You can’t blame me for asking,” I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest as I realized how isolated we were down here—how exposed I was in this dress. My teeth clacked together as I shivered.
“I’m sorry,” he said more softly, “I know this is all a bit disconcerting. I promise I will explain when we get there.”
“Disconcerting. Sure,” I grumbled. But I couldn’t help the awe that crept over me as we paddled through the Cistern. Ciaran’s lights reflected off the surface of the still water; I found myself wondering how deep it was.
Ciaran told me to look up. He sent his little fireflies upwards, and the ceiling was thrown into sharp relief. We were in the dead centre of the Cistern. The whole cavern had been hewn from the stone; you could have made the mistake of thinking that it was naturally occurring as I had when we first entered. However, once it was illuminated, I could see that it was a carefully constructed star-vaulted ceiling. Ancient pillars stood towering, supporting the vast cavernous space. It was so beautiful that it took my breath away, an underground cathedral to some forgotten heathen God. Or perhaps the unknown Goddess Ciaran kept swearing to. We paused for a moment to appreciate the view and moved on toward the distant shore.
