You’ve barely left him alone all night.Caspian’s words to Dayton ring sharply in my ear.
“Dayton, is it true you and Farron were together all night?”
“Yes.”
It’s like we both feel it at the same time. Something is wrong.
Farron is in trouble.
“We need to find him,” Dayton says, voice low and commanding, all hints of merriment gone.
“Ez, can you help Kel?” I ask.
Ezryn gives a nod, not questioning our sudden seriousness. He hoists Kel’s arm over his shoulder as we make our way through the party.
Dayton grabs my hand, clutching it tight.It’ll be fine,I tell myself.We’ll find Farron and get home. It’s okay, we’ll find him.
We don’t. Not after three laps of the courtyard or searching the surrounding passages. There are halls within halls in this castle, but why would Farron wander down any of them?
“He wouldn’t leave without us,” Dayton says, panic lacing his words.
“We can find him,” Ezryn says. “We’ll grid Cryptgarden, every hall, every room—”
“He’s not here,” I say.
They all stare at me. I’m not sure how to explain it. But I knew after we lapped the courtyard once. Farron isn’t in Cryptgarden. He isn’t even in the Below. Iknowit.
“What are you thinking, Rosie?” Dayton asks. I know he’s trying to remain strong, but I can see it in his eyes. He’s terrified.
“We need to get to our portal.”
“The portal remains open for twelve hours,” Ez says. “If he’s not in Autumn, we can return here to search.”
Keldarion vomits behind a bench.
We sprint out of Cryptgarden Castle and across the expansive bridge over the city, passing drunken partygoers and unconscious bodies. Back into the main hall, my heart lurches in my chest.
The carpeted corridor is unnervingly quiet. No soldiers, no revelers. We stop in front of the rock wall where Caspian revealed the hidden door. Quickly, I tap the crystals in the order Caspian showed me.
It doesn’t open.
“No…” I breathe. “I know that was correct. It should work.”
Dayton steps up, tapping the same ones. Nothing happens. “That was the sequence.”
“The bastard did something to it,” Ezryn growls. Kel’s still slumped over his shoulder, slowly coming back to himself.
“I hear something.” Dayton presses his ear against the rock. “Goblins.”
I follow his lead. Faintly, there’s the clash of steel and a hungry chitter.
“What are goblins doing by our portal?” Dayton asks.
“Maybe this is the wrong place.” Frantically, I look up and down the narrow corridor. No, it was here.
Footsteps sound from around the bend. “Who goes there?”
My heart stutters at the sight of guards rounding the corner. Their armor is a cacophony of jewel-tones, helms wrought with sharp spikes. The opaque visors hide any glimpse of their true intentions.
