AllFreeNovel
Share Us
For a long time we lay there in silence, enjoying each other's company and letting the sweat on our bodies dry.
28
Khala
My breath held, I moved through the shadows of the palace halls.
Cavan was dining with Harel and his favourite courtiers, keeping them distracted for as long as he could.
Apparently I was confined to his room as punishment for something. Presumably they bought that story, because when I slipped out an hour later, there were no guards at the door. If anything bad happened to me, it would be my fault.
So hospitable.
On bare feet, I stepped silently. The only sound was the occasional swish of fabric on fabric, and laughter from somewhere else in the palace.
Harel's booming voice echoed, followed by more laughter. The polite kind, as though the listeners were humouring him, not enjoying his humour.
I hurried on as quickly as I could, the map Cavan drew etched in my mind.
"I'm not certain the key is here, but it is a possibility," he'd said, his fingertip pressed to the shape of one room. "I don't know this place as well as I probably should."
"I'm guessing you know it better than Ryze, or even Tavian," I said. "I'll look there, but what if I don't find it?"
"Then keep looking. Otherwise, I'm going to have to do something drastic." He ran a hand over my slightly sore ass.
"Spanking me again won't make the key magically appear," I pointed out.
"No, but we'd both enjoy it." He pinched my ass and grinned when I jumped.
I batted his hand away. "I'm also not going to try to seduce Harel to find out where the key is. Even if he was interested in used goods." I grimaced.
"Then you better find the key," he said.
"You better be right about it being where you think it is," I retorted.
The dimly lit walls were covered in intricate tapestries showing scenes of hunting and feasting. Their appearance seemed distorted somehow, like they were stretched too thin or at too much of an angle. Perhaps the loom wasn't set straight.
Hells, for all I knew, it was a preferred style here in this court.
I froze as voices came up a corridor that crossed the one I was in. I ducked back and tucked myself into an alcove as a group of courtiers passed by.
They laughed and chatted, their voices echoing down the hall. I only half-listened to what they were saying. Something about the weather and an upcoming wedding. None seemed particularly interested. If anything, I got the impression they were mocking the couple preparing to exchange vows.
As soon as they were out of sight, I pressed on, keeping to the shadows. The palace seemed endless, with hallways branching off in every direction. Every so often, I stopped to picture the map in my mind. I would have carried it with me, but as Cavan pointed out, I had no reason to be sneaking around the palace with a map in my hand.
Or without a map in my hand, but I could make up an excuse if anyone saw me.
Finally, I reached a small room tucked away at the end of a long hallway.
It wasn't opulent like the rest of the palace. That in itself was peculiar. On the other hand, where better to keep a hidden key than in a room that seemed ordinary and uninteresting?
Although, now I thought about it, that was as suspicious as fuck. Since pretty much everything I'd seen since we stepped foot in Marial fit into that category, I slipped into the room and closed the door behind me.
I illuminated the room with magic and started to hunt around.
"What the hells?"
I moved closer, my breath catching in my throat as I stared. In the center of the room was a throne made of twisted branches and thorns. It reminded me of the song on the maps. Twisted branches that had the answers, or something like that.
