“Yes, you did.”
He lowered his brows at her and tried againto shift the panel up and out of the way. Stepping back, he claspedhis hands behind his back and glared at the wall.
“If you can’t figure out how to open it, doyou think Felip can?”
His look grew serious, and he pushed andshoved at the wall. “Kambry, what did you do?”
“So, you agree, I must have locked it verywell.”
“I concede you locked it down. But I can’tfigure out how you did it, so you are going to have to showme.”
Kambry bit her lips, trying not to smile toobroadly.
“You want me to admit I’m impressed? I am.Now show me what you did.”
“I used Kavin magic on it. I put it backtogether permanently. The access simply does not exist anymore. Thepassage is still there, but there is no means to get to it.”
Russal sat down on a chair nearby and shookhis head. “You don’t know where I went. You couldn’t have knownwhat I went to do. Yet.” He gave the wall a tight look. “Yet, youaccomplished what I only suspected. Kambry, you are the right womanto be queen of Kavin.” He stood and bowed deeply at the waist.“Your Majesty, show your humble servant what you did.”
“I’ll show you by undoing it. Then we’regoing downstairs and sealing that door.”
Russal gave her a nodding bow, his handsclasped behind his back.
Kavin, if you please.
The breeze wafted in the open balcony doors.When she felt it seep into her skin, she concentrated on the panelbefore her and reimagined the panels separate and removable. With asmall push of magic, the panel shifted out of the seam.
Russal leaped forward and lifted it up andaway. In a moment, he had the interior panel out of the way aswell. He set them both aside. Eyes glinting, he said, “This isamazing.” He picked up the interior panel and lifted it back intoplace. “Let’s seal it back up.” In a moment, he had the secondpanel in place, and Kambry made them permanent.
“Magic.” He grinned and grabbed her hand.“Let’s go.”
They rushed down the stairs together and tothe wall. “That’s why you had these windows open. Kavin hasaccess.”
“Just like the window in the ceiling of theaudience chamber. I let Kavin in.”
He latched the hidden doorway shut andstepped aside.
Kambry gathered the surrounding air, Kavinmagic caressing her skin. The latch, the wallpaper, molding andlathe and plaster behind them became one welded piece.
“I shouldn’t be surprised, but I find itastonishing. Your actions fit with what I learned. I went to talkto someone whom I think should know about this stuff, and you arerunning around our chambers sealing off tunnels like it’s of noaccount.”
“Would you say we’ve locked Felip out of ourchambers?”
“Yes, I would.”
“Now what did you find out?”
“This is what my parents did.” He pointed atthe wall. “Beyond the passage is a stone wall that separates theCondori suite from our own.”
Kambry knew what he meant. She had realizedthe chambers were next to each other and thought it odd his parentsplaced their children in an entirely different chamber out of theirimmediate reach.
Sudden understanding filled her thoughts.“All they had to do was open the wall, and their children wereright there.”
“I went to see Dorvea. I wanted to ask her ifshe knew how the king and queen would enter our rooms atnight.”
“She told you they had a tunnel they madeusing Kavin magic.”
“She wasn’t sure exactly how they did it, butthat’s basically what I came away with. If they needed to reach us,we were a touch of Kavin magic away. They could remove the entirewall if they wished, tuck it aside and step into Dorvea’s room andthen into the main apartment. We were never more than a moment awayin the night.”
Chapter Eleven
He grabbed her hand. “Weneed to open this passage again.”
“Huh?” Kambry looked at the wall in thedrawing room and then back at Russal. They’d just sealed it.
“We need to open it back up,” he said, hisvoice rumbling with excitement. “Let’s enter the hidden corridorsand seal up all the doors. We can block Felip Covey and whoeverelse is running about our castle. We can take away their ease ofmovement and drive them into the open.”
“Okay.” She considered how that wouldchallenge those supporting Covey’s plan to be king. By taking awayCovey and Maizalyn’s access to the hidden passages, Russal andKambry would force the two out of hiding. “You open it up,” shesaid.
He kissed the back of her hand. “As youwish.”
Before he had taken a step, Kambry calledout, “Wait. We won’t have Kavin Wood to provide the magic oncewe’re inside the passages.”
“You’re right.” He half turned to face herwhen she stopped him and turned back to face the wall. Rapping hisknuckles on the solid wall, he followed with his gaze the seamwhich once outlined the door.
“There has to be another way,” she said.
Nodding and giving the wall a last hard rap,he beamed at her. “There is another way. Come with me.” He took herhand and tugged her toward the exit from their chambers. “Whydidn’t I think of it before?”
“Where are we going?”
“To the map room.”
“What makes this map room so special?” sheasked as they left their chambers, waving at the guards standing oneither side of the elaborately decorated door.
Russal shrugged. “It’s full of maps.”
“And....” She hurried to catch up so shecould walk beside him, their quick steps muffled by thick carpetrunning along the corridor.
“You’ll see.”
Kambry realized his caution had merit. Theywere planning to block Felip, and those who acted in his place,from a means to go wherever they pleased in the castle. She thoughtabout Felip’s statement that he would protect her from what othershad planned, people who thought nothing of removing a finger orkilling her to take the ring that gave her the power to contact anddirect Kavin magic.
She sucked in a breath. Had that been thereason behind killing the king and queen? Had they hoped to gainboth rings, but had only gotten the queen’s because Russal waswearing his father’s? But Kavin magic was a gift; they couldn’tjust take it.
