We end up in front of the grotesque Mortal Realm painting. I frown, really hoping this isn’t all so that shecan finish her art history lesson. This time, I won’t have the patience to stay quiet instead of correcting her.
But rather than turning to look at me, she tugs on the curved metal of a sconce beside the painting. It gives, bending at an awkward angle.
I’m pretty sure she just broke it.
Yup, definitely a mental break. Should I get her a padded room?
The sound of metallic gears pulls me from my thoughts, and my jaw drops as the painting swings away from the wall, revealing a hidden passage.
Two secret passages in one night? What’s next, an underground network of tunnels that harbor a population of mole people?
Nymara turns her cold gaze to me, giving a slight jerk of her chin toward the entrance.
Acutely aware that this is probably another bad decision, I climb inside the small tunnel. Thankfully, there’s a room just a few feet ahead.
The secret room is underwhelming.
It’s a small office with shelves lining the walls, filled to the brim with textbooks. Before I can make out what subjects they’re on, Nymara steps into the room behind me.
“What the fuck took you so long?” She growls in a tone I haven’t heard from her before.
My brow lifts as I whirl around to face her. I’m too surprised by her abrupt shift in personality to be offended. “Uhm, I’ve had a night, and I–”
She makes an exasperated sound and cuts me off, “Not tonight! I tried to show you the door days ago! You said you studied history. There’s no way youdidn’t know Marie Antoinette wasn’t shot in the head. I’ve been risking my neck for days trying to get you to come here!”
She’s livid.
I blink, still confused. “What are you talking about? How?”
Her glare turns scathing. “The books I gave you? They were about underdogs sparking rebellions. I even annotated the parts that had secret passages withpoppies– flowers associated with war. You didn’t think that was suspicious, even when I filled the room with them?”
I gape at her, finally piecing together some of her erratic (crazy) behavior. “So… you didn’t lose your mind? You were acting really weird.”
She growls, pulling her fingers through her hair in an agitated gesture. “We were watched and listened to constantly, the moment my mother learned we left the sitting room. I was trying to tell you to come here, and every time I did, I put myself in danger.”
“So, the drawing and the drumming on the walls, that was you… helping?” I clarify, still not convinced that she’s entirely sane.
Her eyes narrow. “It was adove, a symbol of peace, eating a snake, Sin’s symbol. It was to warn you that peace wouldn’t end well.”
She’s back to looking at me like she thinks I’m an idiot.
“It looked like a worm. No one could ever figure that out.” I huff, maybe a bit defensively.
Rolling her eyes, she throws her hands into the air, and I almost jump back, not used to her being so animated.
“Don’t you watch movies? People always pull on wall sconces to open secret doors. And then, I thought if anything, you at least watched Harry Potter, and I started tapping the same sequence as…” she tapers off and takes a deep inhale, fisting her hands before her. “You know what? Never mind. You’re here now.”
She still sounds annoyed, but she’s clearly trying to move past it.
I try to do the same. “Look, uhm, I’m sorry. I figured your mother got to you, and that you went a little crazy. To be fair, though, I wouldn’t have been able to get here any sooner, since my door is locked by magic, and I just found the secret exit.”
Nymara gives me an incredulous expression, and her eye twitches. “You’re the prophecy’s chosen one, and you’re telling me you can’t decode riddles, and it’s taken youthislong to find a way out of your room?” Her whisper sounds strained, like she’d much rather be yelling.
I purse my lips at her accusation.
Rude.
Accurate, but still, rude.
