“You have a map room inside a map room.”
“We’re going to need that lantern.” Russalleaned past her and grabbed the handle of the glowing lantern he’dleft on a table. Turning back to the opening, he slipped into thedarkness, the sweep of the flame in the lamp driving the shadowsaway. Kambry followed closely behind.
He set the lantern on a central pedestal, andKambry turned in a slow circle.
The room was small--maybe she could takethree paces in any direction before she would have to turn aboutand return the other way--and it was circular. She looked up. Itrose far overhead before ending in a circular stone ceiling. Theshadows made it difficult to discern if the roof overhead was flator concave, but she was certain there was a ceiling. She gazed atthe lantern and then back up at the distant height.
“Russal, Kavin can’t come here. It’scompletely sealed from the natural world.”
“One might argue the stone is natural.”
Her brows creased as she gave him adisgruntled look. Hadn’t he said there would be access to Kavinmagic here? If the stone walls were an avenue, they’d hardly neededto come here.
Russal kissed her brow smooth then strode tothe wall where a chain and crank hung from a sturdy mount. Thechain ran up the wall into the shadows far overhead. He removed ametal pin from the crank and began turning it. The noise grated,reverberating in the room. A high-pitched squeak sounded fromabove. Her shoulders rose as she winced until she covered herears.
A twist of air twirled around her, bringingto mind a similar behavior she noted during the crowning ceremony.She looked up as a shaft of light dropped to spill around thecentral pedestal, making the lantern superfluous. The room now litwith natural light revealed a map that ran entirely around theroom. Engraved into the wall, it had not caught her noticebefore.
It took a long moment of examination beforeshe saw it wasn’t a land map. It detailed the hidden passages inthe castle, each level outlined above the one below it.“Russal.”
“Amazing, isn’t it? But give it a moment. LetKavin join with the stone.”
She gazed at the layout embedded in the wall.Very slowly, a purple glow rose along the vertical and horizontallines that depicted the halls and rooms of Kavin Castle. Green roseinto view next, outlining the inner passages and their entrypoints. “Pretty,” she said.
Russal grinned and gazed at the wall.
Kambry stepped forward, peering at theengraved lines. Knowing what it was didn’t make it easy to read.She didn’t know how to make sense of it.
“It helps if you identify one passage and theroom it leads from. Here, I’ll show you.” He tapped the wall.“These rooms right here are the royal chambers. This set of roomsare where Tomo and Amily traditionally stayed until I housed youand your family in them. See, that was your room, this Stahn’s andthis one your dad’s. Or if you prefer, my childhood room, Amily’sand Dorvea’s.”
He was right. Once he had given her astarting point, she could find passageways she was familiar with.That was the tunnel down to the mistress’s quarters Russal hadassigned her when he accused her of meeting Felip in her rooms.There was the passage in their drawing room. And no hiddencorridors ran from the Condori residence where she had stayed withDad and Stahn, just as Russal had promised there wouldn’t be. Ofcourse, there didn’t need to be passages. The king and queen couldcreate one if need be when Amily and Russal were children.
She followed the outline of officialcorridors and quickly found the passage in the geography room thatCole, Lessa and she had scouted until Felip had found her andpulled her into the inner passages. A regular maze within thecastle, servant’s passages ran alongside many of the hiddenroutes.
Russal stood next to her. “With the networkin front of us and Kavin magic available, we can close offeverything, trapping Felip and his accomplices inside. If they’rethere right now, that is.”
“I don’t like the idea of trapping anyoneinside the passages.”
Russal eyed the carved map. “Don’t want themrapping on our walls, demanding entrance?”
Kambry snorted at the thought of Felipknocking and asking to be let into their bedroom. No, it was thethought of him wandering aimlessly, looking for a way out, starvinginside the walls that bothered her. “Couldn’t we leave them one wayout they would eventually find?”
The twisting air draped across her shouldersas if waiting for her command. She turned the ring on her thumb.Was there a way for her to search out who was in the passages?Could Kavin disclose that to her? She eyed the map of the castleand asked Kavin if anyone were traversing the hidden corridors. Thedrape of air settled more firmly, and the interior walls bloomed inher inner view. Felip was in the tunnels, and a hooded figure stoodclose to him, the individual’s cloak pulled tight, snug enough thatKambry imagined the person was female. Felip was tall, but thiswoman’s height, though less than his, would make her stand out in acrowd.
There were several female guards who weresubstantially taller than most women. But that didn’t mean thiswoman was a guard. Sybil had said there were traitors in thecastle. Where on the map were these two? She ran her finger alongthe engraved lines. Could Kavin show her? If so, how? Static clungto her fingers as they ran over the passage running along thepublic receiving rooms. Felip and his companion were in the servantpassages on the other side of the audience chamber, not the innerstone halls. If Russal knew, he would try to capture them.
Russal looked where her hand pressed to thewall. “What have you found, Kambry?”
“How can we make changes or close offentrances from here?”
“Ask Kavin and hold the image in your mind.”He placed his hand near hers. “I can use my knowledge of the hiddenroutes and make adjustments.” Russal held out his hand, the greenglow of his king’s ring outlining its edges. “This ring is from anearlier time. The connection is not as well-developed as yours orthe one taken from my mother. I can sense something.” He lay hishand over hers. “Maybe
