Page 36 of His Noble Ruin

I still held the board, begging my shaking hand not to reveal my hiding place. The torchlight lingered until I couldn’t hold my breath anymore, but eventually, the orange glow shifted away and left me alone in the dark.

ChapterThirteen

I opened my eyes,blinking away a hundred nightmares only to remember I was still in one. The ghostly shapes of furniture draped in white cloth greeted me. I sat up on a sofa with a chipped gilded frame and pushed off a dusty grayed sheet.

The room lay in shadow, but a bit of light streamed in from between the boards that covered the windows. Each faint ray of sunlight was alive with dancing specks of dust. I stretched my aching body and lowered my feet to the faded rug on the floor, wincing when I put weight on my heel, but the pain had diminished compared to the night before.

A life-sized portrait of a crowned woman hung on the wall above an empty hearth. The dignified eyes of Imperatrix Lena Irvine gazed back through crackled paint. She had ruled for forty long years, but since she had no children, the title moved on to the Second House and the surviving members of her family lost their rank. It didn’t matter now that their ancestor had been the founder and first king of Cambria. Immovable was as empty a promise as Immortal.

I reached down and retrieved my bag from where I’d dropped it the night before. The heavier weight reminded me of the stolen book inside. I pulled it out, intending to leave it here, abandoned like the house itself, but curiosity overtook me.

It had no title. I flipped it open. Handwritten pages alternated between drawings and text, but the drawings, in particular, caught my eye. Most of them seemed to be strange machines and tools I’d never seen before. I wasn’t sure if they were fictional or something from the distant past. I flipped back to the first page. A circular seal was stamped there, above some text:

Property of the Cambrian Academy

This reference is intended only for the use of the Immortals of the Cambrian Academy. Any use outside the Academy is prohibited and the perpetrator will be punished for treason.

For the firsttime in too long, my spirits lifted. Maybe my break-in hadn’t been completely pointless. I turned the page, eager to see what I’d discovered, when a crash broke the silence.

I dropped the book and scrambled to my feet to find a place to hide.

A muffled voice called through the door. “Time to wake up.”

“Cael? You followed me?”

“That’s my job, isn’t it?”

I opened the door and moved the loose board. “Any word from my father?”

He leaned over and peered through the gap. “You fit through that?”

“You know,” I said, “no matter how much time I spend without you, it’s never enough. Have you gotten a message or not?”

“Look,” he said, pushing a newspaper between the boards and into my hands.

I unrolled the paper slowly, terrified to see it. The upper half of the Cambrian Tribune’s front page was a transcript of Imperatrix Brennin’s address. My eyes traveled down, and I caught the second headline:Break-in at the Academy.

But it was the picture that made my stomach drop. I stared unblinking at the detailed sketch of a girl wearing a raincoat, a simple dress, and a bag across her shoulder. A hood covered most of the face, but a braid hung out of one side.

I’d become the most wanted criminal in the city.

“Shouldn’t have been an idiot,” said Cael.

I wouldn’t admit just how much I agreed with him.

I searched the article, desperate to discover how much they knew. It mentionedassault, stolen property, considerable damage, a threat to Cambria,andon the loose. I wondered how one broken window could be called “considerable damage” or how assault had come into the picture. Ihadhit Cael with the book, but I didn’t think anyone had seen that.

I looked back at the drawing. Even if it didn’t show my face, my clothing would be enough to give me away. Graham would recognize me the moment he opened the paper.

“I need to find some clothes,” I said, more to myself than to Cael, who still waited on the other side of the boards.

“You need to get out of here,” he said.

I had to do both. I turned and left the room, hoping to find something wearable in this place.

* * *

When I got backto the sitting room, Cael was lounging on a threadbare sofa.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com