I felt in the darkness for the hidden knob that would cause the wall to silently slide open. My fingers traced over smooth stone before finding a depression of sorts. I pressed it hopefully but nothing happened. Carefully, I felt over the shallow dip, feeling the grooves cut into the old stone. It was a symbol of some kind, though I wasn’t sure why it would be on the wall of a secret passage to be seen rarely, if ever.
My eyes widened as I realized what pattern I traced. Once again, I’d found the prince’s mark. Why had he carved his sigil in such odd locations throughout the palace?
A few inches to the right of the sigil, I discovered the knob and pressed it cautiously, sliding the panel in the wall just enough for me to peer through the thin slit into the night. The coast appeared to be clear, absent of guards and wandering servants…as well as the mysterious man whose presence still haunted me.
Even so, my footsteps were quiet as I pushed aside the tapestry concealing the entrance and tiptoed into the shadowed corridor, faintly illuminated by slants of silvery moonlight and a few flickering sconces lining the walls.
I recognized this location—the crossroads where I’d previously stood with the guards during my informal palace tour however long ago in this confusing passage of time. One corridor led to the section of the palace where I’d sensed an unusual concentration of magic, beckoning me to explore.
It would be the perfect place to begin my investigations for the secrets hidden throughout the castle, just waiting to beuncovered in the objects I encountered. It was time to discover just how much had actually changed while I slept.
Before I could begin, the familiar whisper that often beckoned me towards the perfect heist directed me to the opposite corridor leading to the portrait gallery. The art on display the first time I’d toured those halls had contained more paint than hidden secrets, but there had been enough alterations in my reality for me to wonder if this location had also shifted, revealing something more interesting to uncover.
My thief’s intuition had never steered me wrong before, so I heeded my magic’s silent siren call. All was as I’d remembered—several corridors lined floor to ceiling with immaculate paintings, each created by a master’s hand but lacking anything worth my investigation. I felt a twinge of disappointment, but determined to look deeper for what awaited my discovery.
I strolled through the gallery, searching for the one that invited me to explore further. I slowed in front of a blank section of wall where I was certain a portrait had previously hung. A faint dust outline etched the gilded plaster, the only evidence of its existence…a strange remnant in an otherwise well-maintained palace.
Absences often had their own story to tell, ones that were frequently more intriguing than what was actually missing.
With curious fingers, I traced the shadow of the empty space the missing painting had left behind. But though I could feel memories and story concealed in the lingering shadows and traces of magic, the stories remained silent, as if locked beyond my reach…similar to the rose taken from my explorations from the dream just before waking in this strange world.
“It appears you like to study walls as well as climb them. You’re a woman with very peculiar interests.”
I gasped and spun around to face Evander, reappearing so suddenly it was as if he’d materialized out of thin air. Myheart pounded wildly as I stared at him, half wondering if he was a mirage; given recent events I wouldn’t be surprised to mix hallucinations in with the mysterious sleepiness and odd dreams. But it was the same man who’d toyed with me at the wall, the one I’d been trying and failing not to dream about—from his laughing grey eyes set in his handsome face down to that aggravating smirk.
I’d been certain I’d been alone, my hearing too attuned not to have detected his footsteps, no matter how quietly he’d approached. How then had he managed to sneak up on me, especially with each sound magnified in the quiet night?
Irritation tightened my jaw. It was one thing to be bested by him once, but I should never have been so careless as to allow it to happen a second time. Another emotion vied with my annoyance, one I was almost too afraid to examine—relief at seeing him again, as if I’d reunited with a missing ally. Annoying as he’d been, he was the one person who wasn’t acting as though I was the resident princess of this palace, the only one to seem curious about my true self.
The comfort brought by his presence warred with my mounting frustration, before the latter emerged victorious. “What are you doing here?” It took conscious effort to keep my emotions contained to a whisper so as not to alert any guards that might be patrolling nearby. Once was more than enough to make that mistake.
He merely grinned, infuriatingly at ease, as if he found nothing but amusement in this game of cat and mouse. “You sound so accusatory, considering you’re also taking a midnight stroll. It appears I must offer you my congratulations at having successfully managed to evade the guards.”
“No thanks to you. You disappear suddenly during a moment when I most need you, only to reappear the next.”That unresolved mystery momentarily distracted me from my irritation. “Where did you vanish to?”
His teasing smirk faltered slightly. “Vanish?I’ve been here the entire time.”
“I’m talking about shortly after the guards surrounded me a few days ago. Don’t you remember?”
He slowly glanced around the darkened corridor with an air of perplexity, as if he half-expected to see the guards in question lingering in the shadows. The abandoned corridor seemed to deepen his confusion.
“How did I get here?” I barely caught the nearly indiscernible mutter. He noticed my staring and his confusion vanished in an instant. “It appears I must addtall talesto your unique skillset; people don’t justvanish.” But his normal suave tone contained an air of uncertainty, and questions lingered in his eyes.
I frowned. “Then how did you slip past the guards?”
His brow furrowed. “I…don’t know.” For once there was no hint of teasing in his expression.
A sudden thought occurred to me, one seemingly impossible but befitting the other strange occurrences. Could he have forgotten? Perhaps the force that had caused him to disappear had also consumed his memory. A single brush against something he owned—even the fabric of his tunic or the hilt of his sword—might reveal what happened…if I could just find the opportunity.
I may not be the proper princess the king and queen seemed to think I was, but even a woman of my station didn’t go around touching men for no apparent reason. Well, at least I wouldn’t touch himagain; that one undignified poke at our previous encounter had been more than enough.
Mischief toyed his lips. “Did I hear you correctly earlier when you said that youneededme?”
Heat tinged my cheeks. “Don’t stroke your ego. Anyone who found themselves surrounded by a dozen guards would appreciate assistance from even the most incompetent bystander.”
“You have no one but yourself to blame for that predicament—anyone who honorably bears the title ofseasoned thiefshould be prepared for such a minor inconvenience.”
His words struck a nerve, voicing the admonition I’d repeatedly given myself, as if he’d held up a mirror showcasing my shortcomings in very painful detail. The man was more odious than I remembered.
