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ChapterFour
Edmund slipped down the deserted corridor, sticking to the side where the floor was less likely to creak.
At the corner, he knelt, then peered into the next hallway.
Two Mongavarian guards stood in front of the king’s study. Fewer guards than he feared, but more than he was hoping. Then again, it had probably been too much to hope that the Mongavarian king would leave his study unguarded while an Escarlish delegation was staying in the castle.
Retreating a few steps, Edmund tried the nearest door. Unlocked. Hopefully that was a good sign.
Inside, the room was filled with desks. Castle clerks, perhaps? Edmund glanced at a few as he passed, taking in the paperwork left in the open. Apparently this room was for the clerks checking the tax reports of the entire kingdom. Perhaps a team could find something useful, but Edmund doubted the time would be worth it.
Instead, he tried the door at the back of the room. This room was locked, meaning it probably held far more sensitive items than the other desks.
He withdrew a leather roll from its spot on his belt, unrolled it, and sorted through his picks until he found the ones he wanted.
Seconds later, he packed away his picks and stepped into the small office. A quick scan of the room confirmed it must belong to the supervisor in charge of the clerks. Edmund quickly glanced over the paperwork, but nothing stuck out to him. Just boring tax paperwork.
Locking the door behind him, he unlocked the window. A narrow ledge ran along the outside below the sets of windows. Not terribly wide, but wide enough.
He eased out of the window and shuffled along the outside of the building. Navigating the corner proved to be slightly precarious, but he survived. Counting the windows outside, he located the king’s study.
Picking the window’s lock proved to be a bit more difficult since he was balanced on the side of the castle while doing it. But he managed, and soon he slipped inside.
Mindful of the guards outside the door, Edmund eased the curtains open to let in as much outside light as possible.
The light wasn’t very good, and it would have been nice to have elven eyesight right about then. He did not dare light a lamp or use the elven light he kept in his pocket since the guards outside would see it under the door.
He methodically searched through the items on the desk, then all the drawers. Next he went through the books on the shelves and the ledgers in the various other drawers.
Nothing stood out to him. All of this was the basic paperwork of running a kingdom.
Not that Edmund had too much cause to know what such paperwork should look like. It wasn’t as if he had snooped through his brother’s office more than once or twice. Or three times.
But even Averett had more interesting paperwork filed away in a corner of his study.
It was as if this study was purposely boring. All it had was the final tax reports, boring proposals for non-controversial laws, and meaningless communication.
As if this study was simply staged. A set piece where the king could do the boring stuff and meet with dignitaries.
Where was the real study, then? Was it connected to this room? That would make the most sense. The king would need to be able to move back and forth easily, stashing the more important paperwork there while being able to duck back in here when needed.
Edmund searched the walls, running his fingers over the woodwork, the furniture, the books on the shelves. He couldn’t find any hidden switches or latches. That didn’t mean there wasn’t one. Edmund just couldn’t find it.
Voices sounded outside the door. The changing of the guards. If they were thorough, they would search the study before taking up their posts.
He eased the curtains back into place, dropped outside the window onto the ledge, then swung the window closed.
A light flickered inside the room, casting light outside.
Edmund crouched as much as he could on the ledge, trying to stay out of the pool of light. He froze, breathing shallowly. Shadows flitted through the light before the light shut off.
He waited several more minutes before he shuffled along the ledge once again.
This time, he broke into the room next to the one he’d gone out of. Another room filled with desks and incredibly boring paperwork.
And he’d thought his paperwork in the Intelligence Office was boring. He was never going to transfer to the tax division. Ever. Even if he lived hundreds of years thanks to being married to Jalissa.
After searching through several more of the rooms near the king’s study, it was time to return to his room.
