“We have no idea what he might gain by this, that’s the whole point. At least there’s an easy way to confirm his story,” I said. “We go to the cellar and look at this secret doorway. If we can find it we can conclude at least that part was true.”
Aline glanced up at the ceiling. Heavy footsteps moved across the floor above. Arthur’s voice called down from the top of the stairs. “Maeve, are you okay down there?”
“I’m fine,” I called up. “Aline’s down here, too. Can we talk to you about something?”
The stairs creaked under Arthur’s weight. Aline reached behind me and shut the bathroom door. A few moments later, Arthur appeared in front of us.
“What’s up? I don’t want to leave the post for long.”
“Aline will go and watch the window for a few minutes. I need you to go down to the cellar.”
“You thirsty?” Arthur used the cellar to brew and store his mead and other alcohols.
“Not really. But Dai—” Aline stomped on my foot, shoving me out of the way so she could face Arthur.
“I just remembered there used to be a secret passage in the cellar,” she breathed. “There was a spring-loaded door in the last wine rack, and the passage behind led into the woods.”
“I’ve never seen it,” Arthur said.
“Not many people knew about it. I don’t even think Andrew and Bree knew. It might be a good escape route if we need it, but we need to know it’s still there.” Aline batted her eyelids in a flirtatious way. “Can you go down to the cellar and check?”
Arthur glanced over at me, a questioning look in his eyes. I nodded. I didn’t like that Aline was lying to him about how we found out about the tunnel, but we needed to know it was there.It was better for him to go down there than me. No way was I leaving Aline alone with Daigh.
“You’ll both watch the window?” Arthur said. “Don’t take your eyes off it. I think the protective wall is starting to buckle.”
My stomach churned. I nodded again. Arthur shot me a final dark look and hurried off down the stairs. As soon as he was out of sight, I grabbed Aline.
“What did you do that for? Why did you lie about Daigh?”
Aline’s eyelids fluttered. “Because if Arthur found out Daigh was here, he’d rush in with his chest puffed out and we wouldn’t get anything else out of Daigh. And then your Sir Lancelot would probably go straight back upstairs and wake everyone up, and that’s not what you wanted, is it?”
She’s right. That’s exactly what would happen.
I let go of her. “Sorry. I’m just a bit?—”
“It’s okay, Maeve. I understand.” Aline wiped her eyes. I noticed the sheen of tears on her cheeks.
“Go upstairs,” I told her. She didn’t move. I didn’t have the heart to tell her again.
A few moments later, Arthur’s footsteps beat a path up the stairs and down the hall. “You were right,” he huffed when he saw us. “There’s a door and a tunnel behind it. Has there been any movement on the border?”
“Not that we could see,” I said.
“You coming up?”
“I want to speak with Aline privately for a bit. I won’t be long. I promise.”
Arthur looked ready to protest, but what could he do? I was still his High Priestess. “Hurry up,” he called back as he vaulted up the spiral stairs.
Aline pointed to the bathroom door. “Shall we?”
“Fine, let’s get the over with.” I re-entered the room. Daigh swivelled his face toward me. His features appeared eerily solidfor being only an image in the mirror. I longed to touch him and see if his face felt real, but I didn’t dare. “Okay, so you were telling the truth about the tunnel. Say I believed you that Liah was outside compelling the humans, if we wanted to stop her, what would we have to do?”
Daigh grinned, showing two rows of beautiful white teeth. How did he get his teeth so white? They can’t have dentists in the fae realm. “That’s my girl.”
“I’m not your girl. Just answer my question, or I’ll have Arthur down here to smash that mirror into a thousand pieces.”
Daigh shook his head. “You can’t involve the giant knight, or the coal-coloured one, or any of the others. This has to be just between the three of us.”
