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“Hate to break it to you, but we can’t get in. The Regent has repurposed the caves. With a new locked door and all. Which begs the question, why doesn’t he want anyone in there?”
Daimis tilts his head with an appraising smile. “You’ve been busy. And here I thought you were confined to your rooms when we weren’t training.”
Shit. I slipped up again. What is wrong with me? I need to be careful. The old feelings of familiarity and friendship Daimis and I once had is causing me to be too comfortable around him.
I’m scrambling for what to say so that he doesn’t find a better way to keep me locked in my rooms when he steps toward me and leans forward so that we’re only inches away. I step back on instinct, and he smirks.
“Don’t worry,” he whispers. “Your secrets are safe with me. I won’t tell the Regent you’ve been exploring the castle, especially when currently, I want you to explore it with me.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re the only other person here who has questioned why the Regent has closed off the athenaeum and caves. That, and the fact we both want to know more about the shadow demons.”
So, he doesn’t trust the Regent. That makes two of us. But I still keep thinking of the way he questioned me about the shadow demons when I first came to the castle. I put a hand on my hip. “So, does this mean you’re done pestering me about my memory of what happened at the black market?” Maybe I shouldn’t remind him, but it hasn’t gone unnoticed that he doesn’t press me about it anymore and I want to know why.
“Oh, you remember. I’m sure of it. But you don’t feel comfortable telling me.”
I don’t say anything because he’s right and as long as he’s resigned with not pushing me about it then there’s not really anything else to say.
“Yet,” he adds and winks. “You’ll tell me when you’re ready.”
I shake my head in disbelief. “You’re awfully sure of yourself.”
His gaze roams over me before he speaks again. “Honestly, I didn’t trust you when you first got here. But now, I think I understand you just a little. And more importantly, I don’t think you’re a threat. I believe we can be allies.”
Would he still think that if he knew the magic that killed his father was standing right across from him? If he knew that I couldn’t control it?
“Come,” he says when I don’t respond. “It’s time I found out why the Regent is keeping me from my own athenaeum. And while we’re down there, perhaps we’ll find some books on the shadow demons.”
“And how are we going to get in?”
He smirks at my concession to coming and starts to walk down the hall. “There are other ways to get into the caves.” He looks over his shoulder. “You are coming, yes?”
While the prospect of entering the place that screamed wrongness at me seems like a very bad idea, I never could say no to an adventure with Daimis. Some things never change, I suppose. Also, I can’t pass up the opportunity to get my hands on a book that could help me with my dark power.
“Wait right here,” I say and run into my room to grab my holster and twin blades. I strap it over the waist of my dress, and walk back into the hallway, shutting my door behind me.
Daimis is exactly where I left him. He looks at my blades in their holsters.
“Lead the way,Princess,” I say walking up beside him.
He smiles approvingly.
Chapter12
Caves
Daimis escorts me past the guards and brings us to the lower levels of the castle where he opens a storage room. Inside are all kinds of miscellaneous items; barrels of who-knows-what, gardening tools, rope, stone working tools, various linens, I assume for cleaning, and more. Daimis grabs rope and two weathered cloaks that hang on wooden pegs. He hands one of the cloaks to me, crosses the rope over his body, and wraps the other cloak around himself.
“Are we going for a climb?” I ask.
He turns to me. “I’m assuming you know how.”
“I can climb,” I simply say, and swing the cloak over my shoulders.
We leave the room and head to the west side of the castle where the halls are smaller, rough stonework replaces the marble, and the doors are simple plank wood. It’s a step down from even the Nahva family’s hallway. This is where the servants work and sleep. I remember coming here occasionally to find Beth. Back then I turned my spoiled nose up at the humble conditions. It wasn’t long until I was in the streets where I would sleep anywhere I could squeeze in to get out of the elements. What I would’ve given for a servant’s quarters. Perspective changes everything.
We arrive at an unassuming wooden door.
