On the third floor, I came across a woman with ink-smudged hands and a sheaf of papers under one arm. She wore the robes of a clerk and looked both overworked and mildly annoyed, which made her ideal.
I caught her as she turned down a narrow corridor. “Excuse me?”
She glanced my way, her eyebrows lifting.
“Can you direct me to the king’s study?” I kept my tone light. “He asked me to bring him something, but forgot to tell me where to find it.” I gave an apologetic little shrug, likemen, right?
She frowned, adjusting the stack of papers in her arms. “North wing. Sixth floor. End of the corridor. Big double doors with beast-head handles. Would you like me to take you there? He might be gone, and the door willbe locked.”
“No, no, that’s fine. If he’s not there, I’ll find him there tomorrow.” I beamed. “Thank you.”
She nodded and strode down the hall.
I took the stairs up three flights, encountering no one, and turned toward the north wing.
The deeper into the castle I went, the colder it became. The torches here were fewer, flickering low in their sconces. Some had burned down to nubs, and wax puddled on the iron brackets and the flagstone below. I walked slowly, counting my footsteps, aware of how they echoed when the stone corridors opened wide.
Windows stretched tall on one side of the hall, moonlight stabbing pale blades across the floor. It felt like I was walking into the heart of something alive and listening to it breathe.
Goosebumps pricked across my skin. I was being ridiculous, spooked by shadows and flickering torchlight, but I curled my fingers around the hilt of the dagger tucked up my sleeve.
I was about to try to sneak into Trew’s office. Not the study of a random old man, but the king of this court. My father would kill someone for doing a thing like that.
Would Trew?
He hadn’t given me that impression, but what did I truly know about him—and what he might be holding back?
My heartbeat quickened.
It was foolish to think of him as a threat when I’d let him touch me like that. But it was even more foolish to forget why I was here in the first place.
Trew knew something. I was sure of it. And if he didn’t…
I reached the north wing. The corridor narrowed, flanked on one side by dark windows and on the other by solid stone walls broken only by the occasional tapestry.
And then I saw a door that held a carving in the shape of a cinderhawk on the left and a firecat on the right, twisting out of the wood with eerie realism. Their eyes gleamed in the low light. Thedoor itself had been constructed of pale wood, and it looked older than most of the palace. Tall, it made even me feel tiny.
I stood in front of it, shifting on the balls of my feet.
Was he inside?
I didn’t knock. I reached up and laid my hand flat on the surface. Behind me the castle stretched silent and endless.
I didn’t know what I’d say if he was inside.
I didn’t know if I’d demand answers or deny everything or—stars help me—kiss him again just to feel something besides confusion and pain.
This is about answers,I told myself again. I’d whispered that line as I strode through the halls, letting it settle into my spine.
I counted to three, and then I tried the handle.
Locked. Of course.
Glancing over my shoulder, I found nothing but shadows and flickering torchlight. No one storming this way.
Gathering my courage, I knocked, rapping hard on the wooden surface.
Silence ruled the hall.
