The light cast on the stone walls as I descended into the belly of the Castle of Helos. Candles lit the walls, but they didn’t look intentionally placed or meant for commemoration.
“What are you doing in the crypts at this hour?”
I jumped a foot in the air and spun with my dagger pointed, only to meet a lithe auburn-haired adversary.
Elsedora raised a brow at the dagger. She wore a dark tunic and dust-coated leather breeches. Her hair was in a loose braid over her shoulder, disheveled and cobweb coated as though she had just been rummaging around the crypt for something.
“What areyoudoing in the crypts of Helos? Who the hell let you in?”
“I followed the wind,” she said, glancing around the space. When she stepped away from me, I followed her.
This night was starting to feel very strange.
“So did I,” I admitted. “Well, from the window.”
“Hah! The wind is intuitive...Sometimes it puts you exactly where you’re meant to be, doesn’t it?” she mused. “So that means you did not open the passageway—hmm.”
Fantastic. She was now speaking in riddles.
“Why are you here, Elsedora?”
She shrugged and approached a large stone tomb, where she bent down to collect a leather messenger bag. She slung it over her shoulder, and I wondered if she was here to steal valuables. How much gold had she stuffed into that bag?
“Did you notice this one has been cracked open?” she asked, avoiding my question. She pointed to the large stone top that was split down the center and pulled aside. It would have been far too heavy for her to move alone.
“I’ve never been down here before.”
She assessed me, looking me up and down like she was sizing up an animal at a market. “You sure about that, puppy?”
“Quit calling me that.”
“But you have the saddest eyes, and I’ve witnessed your guard dog skills firsthand—such a good boy.” She let out a playful ‘woof’ over her shoulder as she swaggered toward the stairs.
“You didn’t answer me,” I challenged. “Why are you here?
“I already told you—I followed the wind.” She turned back to look at me from the second step. “And we got word that a threat might have come from the North...I am here to check that all is well—magically and politically speaking.”
“Next time, get permission. Egressing into another ruler’s home against their wishesisa threat. It is an executable offense.”
She smirked. “You going to kill me then, pet?”
I tilted my head. What about that did she find so amusing?
“Ah—see, there it is,” she said and mimicked my head tilting.
Before I could respond, she trotted up the steps, her feet silent against the stone. She’d make a terrifying assassin.
I followed, not ready to let this conversation die, taking the steps in twos. By the time I reached the top and glanced both ways, she was gone.
Chapter 22
Krait
I’d begun to watch the Central Queen more since that night when Caym had slipped into her head.
I’d begun to pick up on her small idiosyncrasies. She held her hand to her neck when she grew nervous. She picked berries out of muffins to avoid eye contact when she wasn’t in the mood to talk. She rubbed at her wrists often—I couldn’t pinpoint the trigger for that.
She whistled quietly when she found a peaceful depth of sleep. The sound soothed me as I fell asleep on the other side of the room on that too-small cot.
