“Do you use it?” I ask. The question is more out of curiosity than trying to kill time.
“It’s my weapon of choice.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Bloodthirsty much?”
He doesn’t blink. “Put the weapon down before you hurt yourself and get out of my room. Now.”
I roll my eyes. “Would it kill you to say please?”
“Why would I say please when you’re the one trespassing in my private room?” he asks. “Now, get out.”
I shake my head and put the halberd back in its upright position. “That thing is so heavy. Can you even lift it?”
“Yes.”
“Prove it.”
He stares at me. “I’m not going to prove it. It’s my battle weapon.”
“If you say so.” I let the sarcasm of my remark ring out. I march past him and towards the door that will take me to the hallway.
“How did you get in here anyway?”
I don’t want to tattle on Elowen. “Oh, I used my knives. It's a pretty easy lock to pick. If you have the same one on the front of the house, you might want to change it. Of course, I don’t know who locks doors to entire sections in their castle...unless they have something to hide, that is.” I stride past him without another word and escape into the long hallway.
“It’s not a castle,” he mutters as I walk past him.
I laugh. “Sure, it’s not.” I keep walking all the way to thekitchen where I pop my head in briefly, giving Elowen a questioning glance. She gives me a thumbs-up, and I nod in response. Since I don’t want to have another run-in with Rauk, I head to my room. I’m not sure what he’s doing here right now, but hopefully he won’t be here long. He usually doesn’t come back to the castle until evening.
It only takes a few minutes for me to get bored in my room. I pace the room for a little while and then finally crack my door open and listen. When I don’t hear anything, I cautiously make my way to the kitchen. I’m relieved to see he’s not in there. “Hey, how did everything go?”
Elowen gives me a look that tells me she’s not exactly pleased with me. “The next time you post a lookout person, maybe listen to them. I kept calling your name, and you didn’t answer.”
“I thought you were still just trying to get me to come out.”
“I was,” she says in exasperation.
“Sorry. How did you get Auri to her room in time?”
“While he was in the room with you, over by the weapons room, we snuck her back into her room.”
“Good. Do you think Rauk had any idea?”
“No. Because if he did, we would know. Rauk is very protective of his younger sister.”
I watch her and take in her words. “What happened to her?”
She looks sad at that. “It’s not my story to tell.”
Chapter 15
The next morning, I’m up early; and that’s because I went to bed so early last night. The place is killing me. Once Rauk is home, there’s nothing for me to do but hide in my room. That’s getting really old. I plan to talk to him today. No more of this staying here. I need to go wherever he’s going and do whatever he’s doing; that’s the only way I’m going to talk him into helping the other kingdoms. When I get to the kitchen, Rauk is nowhere to be seen. “Hey, Elowen.”
“Good morning, Harper. Did you sleep well?”
“I did. Thanks. Has Rauk not come in yet?” I thought I timed it for when he eats breakfast.
“Oh, he already ate and left.”
