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I crossed my arms and leaned back against the counter. “Why do you think it’s the one we’re looking for?”
“The Blaenau Ffestiniog mines are considered to be the largest and deepest slate mines in the world and consist of miles and miles of tunnels. Many of the more ancient ones—including ours—broke into natural caverns, which is what I think you may have seen in your dreams. Most of these sections are sealed off to the public, as aside from the flooding, there have been wall and roof failures and multiple chambers that have collapsed entirely.”
“You make it sound so inviting.”
He laughed. “Well, the good news is that the first five levels are easily accessible by anyone who has the right equipment. All we have to do is ring the custodians and ask for the key.”
“Easily accessible is not a comfort, given we’ll be heading down into the inaccessible parts. What about the others?”
“There’s one I think we need to check first, though it’s a cave more than a mine.” He smiled. “Interesting tidbit, apparently it was once used by the Chartist Rebels to stockpile their weapons.”
I frowned. “What I saw appeared to be a mine rather than a cave.”
He nodded. “Excavations done a few years ago uncovered a lower chamber with many passages leading off. It’s believed they link to a wider, deeper caving system.”
“Which doesn’t address the point—”
“Someof those passages and chambers show evidence of exploratory mining. It’s theorized one of the abandoned mining operations might have broken through into the lower chambers and tunnels at some point.”
What I’d seen definitely looked like a mine shaft, but it wasn’t like we could afford to ignore any possible location. The minute we did, it would turn out to be the one we wanted. “Where is it?”
“A few miles north-northeast of the village of Trefil. We can check it out first, and then head on up to Blaenau Ffestiniog. It’s a bit of a drive, so we might have to stop overnight somewhere.”
I hesitated. “I know Swansea is a little out of the way, but could we kill two birds, given we might not be back this way for a while?”
“From what I saw on the maps, it’s roughly an hour away from Trefil. That’s workable depending on what we find and how long we’re underground.”
“You want me to book something?”
He shook his head. “Let’s play it by ear. It’s not like the place will be overrun by tourists.”
No, not when we were zooming toward the coldest month of the year in this area. “It might be wise to grab proper caving suits if we’re heading deep underground, just in case we end up having to swim.”
He nodded. “We’ll also need to call Cynwrig in. If something does go wrong underground, at least we’ll have a means of getting out.”
“What if he’s being watched? The Looisearch are well aware he’s looking for themandhelping us.”
“They can only watch him on the wing—anyone else he’s going to sense through the stone.”
“You’re forgetting they likely have sympathizers in the encampment reporting his movements.”
“Yes, but the Myrkálfar encampment literally has miles and miles of tunnels through which they can move unseen. No one will find him if he doesn’t want to be found. Mathi, on the other hand, will be a different matter.”
“We really haven’t a reason to call him in on this particular trip.” Althoughnotdoing so would probably piss him off. “Besides, light elves really don’t like being underground all that much.”
“He seemed pretty happy to venture into the caves behind the Devil’s Chimney.”
“I suspect he simply didn’t want to be shown up by Cynwrig.”
Lugh laughed. “I can totally see that. The man is not at all accepting of your breakup.”
“Light elves donotlike to lose.”
“Then he shouldn’t have shared his wares with all and sundry.”
I grinned. “Monogamy is another thing highborn light elves don’t like doing. Even the married ones stray.”
He shook his head sadly. “I don’t know why you stayed with him for so long.”
