“Thank you for the explanation,” I say, and mean it. She nods and turns, returning to her room.
I leave as well, feet light and thoughts heavy. The knights don’t stop me on the way out. Even though the halls are slightly busier, the laundry room is empty. The old woman stirring her cauldrons is gone, so I don’t even bother with too much secrecy as I slip back into the servants’ passages.
Kaelis isn’t there waiting as he said he would be. The moment I come to a stop, I hear the distant chime of clocks throughout the castle.
The hour he gave me has expired.
Where is he?My mind is immediately playing out everything that might have gone wrong.
The Page of Wands rises from my deck, and I snatch it from midair. I worry its edges, debating, waiting for one more minute to see if he comes around one of the nearby corners. But he doesn’t.
This card can’t take me to him…but it can show me the right direction toward a particular place, and I know where Kaelis was going.
“Take me to the king’s apartments,” I whisper to the card as I hold out my palm, casting it.
Chapter 24
The card spins in my palm, faster and faster, getting warmer. A tongue of flame rises from its center, pointing to my right. The tiny beacon persists even after the card is gone, hovering like a compass needle.
I start walking with purpose in the direction it points. I can trust the card to guide me in the right direction. But I cannot trust it to keep me safe from danger. So I remain vigilant.
Footsteps down the hall to my left have my heart racing, but I keep my pace measured. I’m dressed as a servant. I’ve no reason to look like I’m fleeing. The average person here has no idea what Clara Graysword looks like, especially not if I keep my head down. But I do raise my other hand to hide the orange glow of the magical compass guiding me. There’s no reason why a servant wouldn’t know where they were going…or would be using magic.
The halls grow quieter, shifting, becoming narrower. The needle then points to a wall. Knowing the magic cannot be wrong, I search for a tiny knob like Kaelis used earlier. There is none, but there is a seam that when pressed reveals a narrow door.
I sidestep to fit into this next passage. The sound of a familiar voice has me sucking in a breath.
King Naethor.
“…be ready to lead,” he says.
“Yes, Father,” a new voice replies.
I ball my hand into a fist, extinguishing my compass. Ahead are points that glow like tiny stars. Beams of light pierce through the wall to the left, striking across the passage I’m in. I creep forward, the voices becoming louder.
“Ravin is leading the charge to find her, but he might end up compromised,” Naethor continues. Silence is his response. “Kaelis cannot be permitted to leave the academy now under any circumstances. He is becoming too…erratic.”
Erratic?I reach the wall of perforated holes, coming to a stop just before it. The holes are so tiny it’s clear they’d hardly be visible in the main room. And even if anyone noticed them, I’m sure it’d seem like some kind of decorative element. Not a means to eavesdrop. But even if the chance of them seeing me through the perforated wall is next to nothing, it’s not nothing.
“The Chalice’s strength is wavering, even after being fed.”
“Will the next crop of students not be enough?”
Daring to lean slightly forward, I get fractured glimpses of the king and the youngest prince. Prince Belen sits on a stool, as if receiving a lecture. The king paces before him.
“It will postpone the inevitable somewhat. I’d been hoping having her would quell his unbridled ambitions some, but it has only made them worse.” Naethor pauses, folding his arms. “At least she will be of some use to us, alive or dead. There is only one way to cure your brother of his afflictions.”
Movement at the opposite end of the perforated wall draws my eyes inward to the narrow, secret passage I’m in. Kaelis stands just beyond the dots of light at the opposite end. Armored in shadow.
He crosses without hesitation. I glance to the king, but Naethor doesn’t seem to notice any movement from behind the wall. I’m surethe king thinks himself the only person in the castle to know of this passage and uses it for his advantage.
Kaelis grabs my hand and squeezes past me, our bodies pressing together in a way that leaves no room for air. My lungs burn as I stare up at him, and his eyes meet mine in a way that makes me feel as though I listened to somethinghedidn’t want me to hear. How long was he there? Did he hear his father talking about him?
Closing the door to that secret passage, he whispers without looking at me, “Did you do what you needed?”
I nod. “They’re on our side.”
“They’reon our side? You didn’t kill him? And who’s ‘they’?”
