He flips to the first page. “Let’s begin with the tunnels. My investigators are confident that the one leading from Fort Vauclairt’s second dungeon to slope predates the lodge tunnel by centuries.”
I lean back. This confirms my theory. Eva’s chest heaves as she shoots me a quick questioning look as if asking if it’s safe to hope at this point.
I wouldn’t,I telegraph, pursing my lips. This historical fact doesn’t prove Geoffroy didn’t know about the second tunnel or wasn’t involved in shady dealings.
“Our forensic archaeologists agree,” Von Dietz continues, “that the older tunnel was dug during the French Revolution and the Terror.”
“As an escape route?” I ask.
“Yes,” he replies. “By 1789, Fort Vauclairt’s dungeons had been out of use for generations. Few remembered there was a second dungeon beneath the old wing.”
Eva smiles, “Which is why the then duke chose to dig from there.”
“Very likely,” Von Dietz agrees. “Those were panicked years. Royals and nobles everywhere feared the French upheaval spilling into their kingdoms.”
“With reason,” I interject. “What was happening in France was a rococo horror show.”
Eva nods. “King and queen guillotined, the church sacked, countless priests and nuns murdered, half of Vendée wiped out by Robespierre’s ‘infernal columns’… If I were a duchess back then, I’d be worried, too.”
Her eyes flicker toward me and then back to Von Dietz. “That’s when our royal family gave away the nine keys to the Impenetrable Vault, right?” she asks him.
“That’s right,” he replies. “Prince Maximilien and Princess Françoise entrusted them to allies for safekeeping.”
Eva tilts her head. “Any updates on that?”
I catch the tension in her voice. I feel it, too.
“No, Your Grace,” Von Dietz replies. “We haven’t found the two missing keys yet.”
“What about Princess Felicia’s gift?” I ask. “Has she recovered enough to have another vision?”
Von Dietz exhales heavily. “No. Unfortunately, no. With only two months left, it’s a grave concern.”
The air thickens. It feels surreal to be one of the few who know our hidden nation could end in two months.
Von Dietz refocuses us. “The tunnels. It’s possible that, over the last two centuries, the two routes were used together.”
“For smuggling?” I ask.
“Likely.” He shifts. “If a duke of Rohinn or someone on his staff were inclined toward contraband, the proximity of the tunnels would have been convenient.”
“Did your experts confirm the lodge tunnel started as a natural cave system that was later improved?” I press, curious if this theory was correct, too.
“Yes.” He meets my eye. “That’s their conclusion.”
I smile, pleased.
From the corner of my eye, I catch Eva’s face.
Was that a faint, amused smile, or did I imagine it?
She turns to Von Dietz. “Where does the lodge tunnel lead?”
“It runs about one and a half kilometers to an exit hidden in another hunting cabin,” he replies. “Took time, since the tunnel’s too narrow to crawl through, but we found it.”
“Where?” Eva and I ask in unison. “Where is that cabin?”
“In the forest on the French side of the border.”
