AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I could actually hear the water lapping lazily against the walls surrounding us.
“We are,” Vienne confirmed.
Glancing up uneasily, I ducked even more away from the low ceiling. “What’re the chances of all that water up there collapsing on top of us at any moment?”
Grinning back at me, she took my hand and pulled me up to her side. “Don’t worry, Prince. This tunnel’s been here as long as the castle has, and it hasn’t collapsed yet.”
“And how old is this castle again?” It couldn’t have even been thirty years since its conception, with some parts exceptionally newer.
Her fingers warmed around mine as she gently tightened her grip. “I wouldn’t put you in danger. I swear.”
And just like that, I couldn’t think of another reason to question her, so I shifted closer to smell her fragrance over the musty rock walls of the tunnel. God, everything about her enchanted me.
Clearing my throat because I was becoming a little too enchanted, I asked, “How much can we trust your old nanny not to have some dark magic in her as well?”
“I trust her implicitly,” Vienne answered without hesitation. “She’s the one who posted a magic ward around all of Mandalay and the Iron Castle, protecting us since all the other magic folk were exiled. I’d say that makes her safe.”
I nodded until a thought struck. “Then how did this dark magic get in? How did that carriage explode?”
Vienne glanced up at me solemnly. “She only protected the borders, to keep others from getting in. That was nearly two years ago when Caulder’s parents were killed and he kicked most magic kind out. Whoever holds the dark magic had to have already been here in Donnelly at that time, and he hasn’t crossed outside the borders since.”
I frowned slightly. “Then whoever it is was already here when Allera and I arrived?”
She nodded. “Which makes me think it might not be a Lowden supporter of the Graykey family seeking revenge against you.”
“Hmm,” I said, frowning. “That does shoot holes in my theory.”
“But strengthens mine,” Vienne murmured. “There were a lot of deaths around the time Caulder took over and magic was banned. His parents died only a few months after Yasmin and I were married into the family and moved to the castle. My own parents were killed in a carriage accident not even a year after that. And Soren’s parents died of stomach ailments a year before.”
“Hmm,” I said. “That is a lot of a deaths, and carriage accidents, and stomach ailments all within a short amount of time. Has anyone else royal died since your parents’ accident?”
“No.” She glanced up at me, her gaze seeking. “Why? What’re you thinking?”
I shrugged. “Not sure. It just seems that if everything went quiet after that, then whoever was behind it is satisfied with who’s currently in charge.”
“Caulder,” she said softly, her eyes widening with shock. “Wait. You don’t think he’s the bearer—”
I pressed my finger to her lips to silence her, even though I was nearly positive our conversation couldn’t be overheard. I mostly just liked having a reason to touch her. “I don’t know,” I said, shaking my head. “But this could be why he’s so adamant to keep other magic out of the kingdom. If he’s the bearer, he certainly wouldn’t want anyone else to sense any darkness in him.”
She shuddered, her eyes showing troubled thoughts as she murmured, “I really don’t like this line of thinking. But there’s sound reasoning behind it.”
“I know,” I agreed. “I think it best if we keep our heads on a swivel.”
She nodded, and a thought struck.
“Are you certain the ward your nanny put up is still working? The High Cliff priestess who came to Allera’s wedding was able to enter the kingdom without any problems…I mean, before the bearer of dark magic killed her.”
Vienne smiled as if impressed by my deduction. “I can explain that one since I’m the one who intercepts all the permits Caulder s
igns, allowing new people of magic into Donnelly. It happens so infrequently, it’s easy enough to track. I just take that person’s name to Nanny Wynter, and she allows them to cross through the ward.”
“Hmm,” I murmured, scratching my chin. “So Caulder knows nothing about the ward?”
“Nope.”
“Has he left the kingdom’s borders since it’s gone up?”
Her brown eyes grew troubled. “No. He hasn’t.”
