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“But why this land?” Brigid asked.
Reena shook her head. “I do not know. And what of this map Kilkern claims was stolen from him. Could it actually exist? Would it show the two lands as one?”
“If the two lands were actually one property, then who does the land rightfully belong to? Is it Kilkern property or Dunhurnal property? And why was the land divided?”
Reena had her own questions. “And how is Magnus’s mother part of it all?”
“Where are the chests with the journals? Reading them would help solve the mystery.”
“If only I had paid heed to the chests. I grew busy mapping the keep and gave no thought to the journals. When I recalled reading the brief passage, I went in search of the journals, but the chests were already removed from the tower room.”
“What of the concealed room?” Brigid asked with excitement.
“It has been closed each time I have visited this room.”
Both women stood.
“Do you know where the concealed room is located?” Brigid asked.
Reena nodded and hurried over, Brigid close behind her, to the section of the wall she knew contained the concealed room.
She ran her fingers over the seam of the door. “It is here, but I do not know how it opens.”
Brigid felt where Reena’s hand touched. “A lever or something must work the door, otherwise the door would be too heavy to move.”
Reena looked about, Brigid joining her in the search.
“It would be close by,” Brigid said.
Reena nodded, running her hand over the stones near the door so as not to overlook anything.
“The peg,” Brigid said, her excitement growing. She hurried to a section of the wall where a metal peg protruded. She pulled on it, pushed up, attempted to twist and turn it, but the sturdy peg remained solid in the wall.
“Here, I found it,” Reena said, barely above a whisper. “Come feel this in the wall.”
Brigid hurried over and let Reena take her hand and guide it over the wall. She felt a slim, long piece of cold metal hidden between the stones.
“Amazing,” Brigid said. “It cannot be seen and barely felt if one did not know to look for it.”
“Someone certainly wanted something kept hidden.” Reena yanked on the metal lever, and Brigid’s hand joined hers as they both struggled to move the lever. It finally gave way, and a section of the wall creaked slowly open.
Reena was quick to collect two candles from the table, and the two women, hugging close beside each other, entered the room. They looked about, Reena holding her candle high to cast light over the dark, dank, cell-like space.
Brigid gave a small gasp and pointed to the back wall. “An iron ring to chain a prisoner. A cell for sure.”
“But why up here in the tower room when a dungeon exists below the keep?”
Brigid voiced her thought. “Someone did not want anyone to know who was kept here?”
“I would say that might be so.”
“There are no chests here.” Brigid shivered. “It is cold and damp and would be so terribly dark without the candles. I cannot imagine someone chained to the wall and left in such darkness. The darkness alone would frighten me.”
“A torturous thought for sure,” Reena agreed. “And one I cannot help but wonder over.”
At that moment the two heard a creak. When they both turned toward the sound, the door began to close quickly.
“Hurry,” Reena urged Brigid and pushed her through the opening, which had become considerably narrower.
