Page 41 of Falling for the King

‘Electricity never made it this far and these are stronger than anything we’ll get on our phones.’

She peered into the pitch-black tunnel. ‘A torch! I’m thinking I should grab one of the terrifying crossbows the walls are littered with.’

He laughed. ‘You won’t need one but it does get colder.’ The cold from the tunnel seeped into the already chilly room something she’d obviously clocked judging by the pair of black gloves she’d put on and the collar of her jacket which she’d raised.

‘Right. Step in and I’ll close the door behind us,’ he said.

She let go of the tapestry and brushed past him. He stiffened and she quickly manoeuvred around the door to stand as far away from him as the tight space allowed.

Leading the way the light from his and Kat’s torches combined into a large beam. Not enough room to walk side by side he was acutely aware of Kat behind him, close but not touching.

‘How long have you known about this?’ Kat asked in an awed whisper which echoed through the tunnel.

‘Farfar brought me in here when I was ten, it was part of my induction to the double digits.’

‘What’s that? Like a formal thing?’ He heard the frown in her voice.

‘Max never mentioned it?’

‘No.’

‘When you’re born into this family your formal training begins at ten. Of course, you’re exposed much earlier than that but this is when you’re first allocated official duties, allowed to go to certain events, have specific responsibilities. It also included coming here for your first hunt.’ He wondered how none of this ever came up with Max but he’d had a very different upbringing than him. Max wasn’t the heir and he’d been inducted, for want of a better word, by their father not grandfather.

‘Is that when you first discovered hunting wasn’t for you or was that later?’

‘Immediately. I point blank refused to shoot any living thing.’

‘How’d that go down?’

‘Not great. Farfar was disappointed and although he was the one person in the world whose respect I wanted, I wasn’t going to kill anything even for him.’

‘Good for you.’ Gentle understanding flooded her words and soothed over the painful memories from the only time he’d knowingly upset his grandfather.

‘Instead, I roamed in here.’

‘You came in here by yourself?’

‘With all the enthusiasm of a preteen who had hours to himself once his lessons were done and everyone was off hunting. I explored every inch of this tunnel and the other one.’

‘There’s more?’

‘Yeah. The other leads to an underground hiding spot and an escape into the forest in case it’s ever required. Neither tunnel is listed on the building plans, or maps, they’re completely undocumented. I’ll show you the other tunnel later if you’re interested but you’ll be pleased to know, in the past three hundred years, it’s never been needed.’

‘That is good to know.’ He could hear the smile in her voice and felt an answering one stretch across his face.

‘Who knows about them?’

‘These days, me and—’ he turned to face her but could see nothing but darkness, ‘—now you and a handpicked number of staff. No-one comes in here except for the caretaker who checks them annually.’

‘You’ve never come across anyone in here?’

He shook his head and then realised she wouldn’t be able to see it.

‘It’s pretty hard to hide and you’d hear someone a mile away.’ Their footsteps loud in the rock hewn space proved him correct. ‘But I’ve always come in with a good torch and a spare.’

‘My overactive imagination can’t help wonder if you’ve ever discovered a body, you know someone who got trapped in here centuries ago, or recently.’

His burst of laughter echoed off the walls. ‘Not yet.’