“You really did get nice appointments, didn’t you?” Olivin observed their fresh décor and silks.
Eira realized he had yet to be in the Solaris house following the goods from Draconi arriving. “They weren’t overstating the perks of winning games in this tournament.”
“Was one of those perks some kind of special back door into town?” Ducot asked, somewhat sarcastically.
“Unfortunately not; that’s why we’re going to make one.” Eira backtracked just a little. “Assuming you all agree?”
“I am always for having multiple ways out,” Olivin said. “Especially secret ones.”
“Same,” Ducot said.
Eira looked to Alyss. “Are you all right with it?”
Alyss had a knowing gleam to her eye the second Eira finished. Rather than answering, she asked, “Where do you think we should have it?”
“I was debating that… It should be on the first floor, I assume?”
“That’d be easiest for me,” Alyss confirmed.
“I initially thought Cullen’s room, because it was off to the side and then we wouldn’t be leaving and entering through the common areas,” Eira mused aloud.
“Only those you trust and welcome should be allowed in here, per the rules of the competition,” Ducot pointed out.
“That’s true,” Alyss readily agreed. “Plus, I don’t think we should put a hidden passage in Cullen’s room without his permission.”
“I agree. So I was wondering if maybe we could hide it by the stairs?”
“I think under the table.” Alyss pulled out a chair, knelt, and ran her fingers over the wood floor. “If we do it here, no one would notice a couple of loose floorboards. I could make a trapdoor, then people wouldn’t need me to come and go.”
“Where are we going to come up, though?” Olivin asked. He had no doubt seen enough of Alyss’s magic to have picked up on the plan. “We can’t be conspicuous on the other side.”
Alyss looked to Eira.
“That’s an excellent question and I don’t have a good answer yet,” Eira admitted. “But I have an idea we can test once we come to that point. No point in worrying about it too much before it becomes a problem. Which means, Alyss, tunnel away.”
The Groundbreaker held out one hand and slowly flipped her palm up. The table rose, hovering right about at Eira’s chest height. She snapped the fingers of her other hand and the floorboards popped, breaking into rough lines. With a wiggle ofher fingers, Alyss moved the planks off to the side, exposing the bare earth below.
“It’s a good thing I rebuilt this house,” Alyss murmured, most of her focus given to her work. “I remember exactly how I shifted the stone in the earth underneath so I know just how much pressure to put and where, as well as spaces that are already mostly hollow.” She clenched her fist and a hole formed in the earth.
Watching Alyss work was always a delight for Eira and, judging from their slightly wide-eyed expressions, it seemed Olivin and Ducot could still be impressed by her even following their house rearranging. Alyss was always far too humble—most of her magic spent fussing with blobs of clay and small bits of stone—that it was easy to forget just how much power she wielded. But Alyss hadn’t become one of the Solaris champions by accident. She was one of the best Groundbreakers in the Tower. As far as Eira was concerned, shewasthe best.
Alyss combined power with a sharp attention for detail and incredible finesse. With a twitch of her fingers, she carved stairs leading down that were perfect right angles. She moved deliberately, but not too hastily. Her magic was a steady drum. Nothing, and thenpower. A merger of silence and strength. It was so different from Cullen’s hum that Eira knew she wouldn’t have any problem distinguishing Alyss’s magic from Cullen’s in the future.
Things were moving faster than Eira expected so she pulled herself away, dashing upstairs without a word to grab two cloaks from her own trunk and one from Alyss’s. By the time she returned, Alyss was starting down the stairs, continuing to make the path ahead of her with every step.
“After you.” Olivin motioned to Eira.
“I’d rather you go first, if you don’t mind using your Lightspinning to give us something to see by?” she asked.
“I’m fine without it,” Ducot quipped quickly. Eira snorted.
“Ah, of course.” Olivin started ahead, murmuring. A halo of light spun over his head, casting off enough to see by.
Eira followed him, and Ducot after her. Once they were all down in the tunnel, the planks moved back into place. Eira could hear the soft creaking as the table settled back above them. No longer having to focus on holding the table aloft meant the pace could increase, now that Alyss could use all her magic on carving out the tunnel.
Every several steps, Eira had to duck underneath a beam of stone. She could assume that Alyss left them as supports. But there was another mystery Eira couldn’t suss out.
“Where’s the rock going?” She dared to break Alyss’s focus.
