Roran leaned in. “Not only did he hide…”—he dropped his voice—“…he grew a beard.”
I could not imagine Rilen Wolf with a beard. I wrinkled my nose, and he shook his head lightly.
“You had to bring up the beard.”
“It wasn’t just a beard, brother. It was an epic feat of facial hair. How long was it when I found you? Waist?”
Rilen groaned and closed his eyes. “Knees. And the first thing you did was to grab your sword and hack it off to my neck. I thought you were trying to kill me.”
“But the thing about that beard was, it was clean,” Roran continued. “Like the rest of him was a bit scrubby, but that beard was long and clean.”
“Even a hermit has standards. Just because I was hiding from society didn’t mean I had to stink. Or fester.”
“But, Rilen, a beard?” I cocked my head at him.
“Are you upset with us?” Rilen was so serious at that moment.
“Yes.” I nodded.
“Why?”
“Because you grew a beard!”
Roran guffawed and stood. Rilen kissed my nose. “Okay, fair enough.”
“Are you upset?” I asked.
“Why would I be?”
“Because we came all the way out to the Middling Hills, and I’m just still a misfit druid.”
Roran turned back. “We’ll forgive you if you take us up to the Rest and show us.”
I didn’t really want to go back up there, but I knew how closely my parents had guarded it. Not many people were allowed inside.
I could have been the Keeper of the Rest, but being around all those creepy, sleeping druids in the cave was not something I wanted. I didn’t want to have to dust off inert bodies. Or shoo bats away when they took up residence in the cave.
Never at any point had I shown enough magic to enchant the entrance once someone came or went. I didn’t have enough ability to change the gate subtly to keep those who had passed out from getting back in.
But I did have the master key to the door no one knew about.
I nodded. “Come on. I’ll show you. I should have been coming here to check once a year anyway. I’ll need to find a new keeper if it’s a mess in there.”
The door was nowhere near the entrance that most people saw. Years before, my father had built a shed over the doorway that wasn’t enchanted. Not only was the door locked, but the shed was locked, as well. Drawing out the keys, I let us in with Roran supplying the light as we went.
The passageway into the cavern was long and boring from this way, but it was easier than trying to figure out the current magic at the door.
Leading the way into the dark, I was glad to see the magic created in the cavern worked as we walked in. It triggered the enchanted torches and lit the cave up.
“Holy Gods,” Roran whispered.
“I hate this place,” I said.
Rilen walked forward, and his eyes followed the walls around and up and around again, all the way behind us. “I didn’t realize—”
“It’s massive.” I pointed to the stairs. “Go up, and you’ll see how big it is and why it needs a caretaker.”
The twins looked at each other and started climbing the stairs. I followed behind, taking my time. There were things I had to check to make sure everything was safe and secure.
