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When we finally reach one of the upper levels, I stop the group. “I’m going to see if I can detect anything so we don’t exhaust ourselves.” My words are enough to stop them, though they all stay in their protective stances. Standing too close to them will cause my magic to get lost in theirs, so I step a few feet away before sending out my radar again. This time I feel a faint pulse coming from above me and further down the hall. The fact it’s a bit hard to detect, tells me we need to go at least two more floors up. This feels like the magical version of the hot and cold game.
“I think we have a bit further to go, but we are closer. It’s definitely in the castle.” My voice is much brighter now. It’s easier to feel optimistic with a trail to follow.
We reach the end of the hallway and the only way to go higher is through a tower door. It’s a large metal door, the wall curving around it like someone cut off the hall and stuck the tower right up to it.
Walking up to the door, I try to pull it open, but it doesn’t budge. So far nothing in the castle has been locked, so I wasn’t expecting such a mundane obstacle.
“I think it’s locked," I grunt in a ridiculously undignified way as I try to open it with every ounce of strength I have, which is silly when I’m surrounded by a bunch of muscle clad men.
“Calm down, killer. You have four strong men. Just stop before you hurt yourself," Jacob says, pulling me away from the door.
Gerwyn steps forward and inspects the door for several minutes. As he straightens back up to face us, I notice he looks confused, which isn’t a look I see on him often.
“There isn’t even a visible lock," he says as he gestures to the door in question, like it offended him.
Magical locks are the only other kind I’ve seen, so I used my magic on the door, trying to locate the source of the lock. The magic emanating from the door is faint, as if the spell is old. But I have no clue how to diffuse a curse, and the last time we found one, my men ended up frozen for months.
“Wait, what’s this," Maddox states, pointing to an indention next to the door. If he wasn’t actively searching for the lock, it would have been impossible to see. It’s a circle, big enough to fit a hand comfortably. It’s only about a quarter of an inch deep and appears unassuming... which means it could probably kill us.
“It’s definitely spelled," Gerwyn mutters, reaching for the circle like a moth to a flame. Panicking, I snatch his hand away, which gets me several looks of shock. It was a total Emrick move, but who cares?
“Sorry, Wyn. Despite your knowledge, this one’s mine. If it’s meant to detect the royal family, I should do it. I don’t want to set off a trap or something," I reason, reaching out with my hand before anyone can stop me.
As soon as my hand makes contact with the stone, the bitter sting of cold hits me… then it changes. My hand sinks into the wall like quicksand, the wet feeling of clay is so cold my skin tingles. I try to pull my hand away again, but the wall hardens immediately trapping me there.
“Stupid fucking castle! I can’t keep anyone safe when every single thing is a fuckin’ trap!” Emrick starts muttering behind me, punching the wall to emphasize his anger. When he’s done freaking out, I can hear his heavy footsteps stomp up and down the hallway to try and calm himself, knowing the others will come to my aid.
Gerwyn rushes forward first, pulling on my arm until I cry out in pain. It feels like he’s trying to rip it off. He quits, realizing he’s hurting me and his actions aren’t going to fix anything.
“Damn it, Bella. What were you thinking?” Maddox scolds me. He opens up his mouth to protest further, but Jacob cuts him off, karate chopping his hand through the air to emphasize his point.
“How is that going to help? You forget that she is the queen, you don’t get to lecture the girl with her hand stuck in a stone wall. She wasn’t reckless, her point was valid," Jacob scolds, and Maddox immediately looks shocked and apologetic.
Meeting his gaze, I give him a reassuring smile. “It’s okay, we all act out when we’re frustrated.”
“Some more dramatically than others,” Jacob supplies unhelpfully, Dormy squeaking his opinion along with him.
“I can fix this,” I reassure them. They start to argue, but I close my eyes and focus on the lock.
The spell is so faded that it’s hard to locate the exact location, but it’s there, embedded in the stone directly behind my hand. Clearly someone with strong magic formulated this spell, and it will require a decent amount of magic to make a difference. Something I have plenty of.
Of course, every time I try to push my magic into it, I’m met with a barrier. My magic slams into an invisible shield, but I can’t push through it. Each tactic I try is another failure, from trying to freeze the spell to slowly overloading it.
Then it hits me. His magic was always so volatile and corrosive, so much so I’ve had to heal plenty in Winter already. Maybe I can do the same here.
Instead of fighting against it, I weave my magic around it. My magic settles over the old spell like a cloud, twisting the old magic until it melds with mine.
Ha, I’ve done it. Once again, my magic outsmarts the king.
Thinking I solved my problem, I try to move my hand out of the stone and it still won’t budge. Apparently, making my magic equal isn’t enough. Damn! Maybe I can try to push my magic into it until it overtakes the old spell now that they’re merged.
This time as my magic pushes into it, there’s no barrier. The spell recognizes my magic as its own, but instead of fueling the curse, it breaks it. As the magic disappears completely, the door swings open.
The ominous creaking of the door echoes in the hallway, silencing their arguing. Their heads all swivel my way, relief and shock on their faces. If I wasn’t so relieved, I’d be annoyed that they were always so shocked when I did something badass.
“You’re one impressive little Queen," Bowen remarks.
“Little?” I snort, “Is that a short joke?”
