Embedded in the wall was a round metal hook. I tugged on it hard, wincing when the stones groaned, but managed to slip into the narrow passage that would take me down around the tower. The path going was dark, and the stairs were hardly visible even with my vision, but it would bypass the entire tower and dump me out on the main floor of the palace.
Running my hand along the wall as I wound around and around, I focused on getting to the dungeon undetected.
Craig no doubt believed me to be a traitor, and I had to make them both see I was nothing like my father, not anymore.
By the time I reached the last step and peered out through the tapestry that hid the entrance to these steps, I was ready to take my chances and sprint down to the dungeon. My gut told me they needed me, and I hated being apart from either of them.
Craig and I might not get along, but whatever connected the three of us was stronger than any animosity I had toward the half-demon. We were in this together, and the notion they no longer trusted me ate at me the longer I was forced to stay away.
Pulling the tapestry gently aside, I waited a few seconds, but when no guards appeared, I risked it and darted across the corridor toward the wing leading to the dungeons.
A guard was usually posted at the top of the steps, but luck was on my side tonight.
The bell tolled the hour, and I realized I was just in time for shift change.
I sprinted down the steps, holding my breath until I slipped into a darkened alcove, just in time for two more guards to appear at the end of the hall, yawning and muttering to each other.
“Raghnall is on edge,” one of them said, annoyed. “I thought he was going to murder his son right before our eyes. Apparently, he’s still spouting threats from his chambers.”
“He might’ve managed to choke him to death if she hadn’t done what she did.”
“What did she do? I’ve never seen power like that.”
“No, me neither, but if she’s a Darrah, who knows what she can do. I’ve heard the rumors about how strong they were… makes you wonder what this place would be like if they were still alive. Doubt we’d have any trouble from the demons then.”
I pressed myself deeper into the shadows as they passed and kept on moving.
Raghnall almost killed Craig?
Kadin was very strict whenever he had prisoners in his cell. His sense of honor made him keep them all safe until judgment was passed or they were released to whatever party claimed them.
The guards should’ve been enough to deter Raghnall from acting rashly, but it seemed not.
Knowing my time was limited, I rushed down the rest of the steps, along the corridor, and made a sharp left when I heard voices whispering in the semi-darkness of the cells.
Kate and Craig.
I skidded to a stop on the dirty, stone floor and peered into the cell on the left.
“Forrest?” Kate asked, squinting at me weakly through the bars.
“It’s me, sorry it took so long,” I whispered, throwing a worried glance over my shoulder, but I didn’t have to look to know Craig glared at me. “I’m sorry, for all of this.”
“Really?” He was on his feet near the bars, looking ready to come after me. ,
I didn’t need a bright light either to see the bruising around his neck. Raghnall must’ve choked him through the bars.
“Craig, don’t,” Kate scolded. “He’s here now, isn’t he?”
“Yes, but is he about to get us out of this cell?”
“I would love to say yes, but I can’t. There are too many guards. We’ll never get out of the palace,” I told them. “The guards are in a shift change; it’s the only reason I made it down here now.”
“Of course it is.”
“Craig,” Kate started to say then broke off with a sharp gasp of pain.
Craig cursed and sank back to her side. She hadn’t moved since I showed up. Now she was curled in on herself, making a horrible snarl of pain.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, desperate to get inside the cell and help her.
“Why don’t you ask your bloody healer?” Craig snapped. “He did something to her dragon.”
“It’s not… that,” Kate muttered. “The visions… I keep seeing them all…”
“What is she talking about? Craig, talk to me, please!”
“Celandine is still trying to show Kate something of our past,” he replied tightly.
He picked Kate up in his arms and carried her to the tiny cot in the cell. He laid her on it, and she squeezed his arm before closing her eyes and appearing to sleep.
I gripped the bars, wishing I was strong enough to push the metal rods apart, and get them out of this place tonight, but we would get caught, and they’d wind up chained somewhere else, instead of being able to stay in the same cell.
Craig stalked toward me, nodding his head, so I moved farther down, away from Kate. He shoved his hands in his pockets, leaning back against the wall so he could keep an eye on the one thing we both cared about.
“She can’t stay here long,” he whispered roughly, sounding exhausted, and as if talking caused him pain. “The visions, whatever’s happening to her, it’s fighting against what Magnus did to her dragon. Her mind is fighting too hard to get free.”
“He must’ve bound her dragon, thinking she was too dangerous.”
“Well it’s going to kill her if we don’t remove it,” he snapped. “Each time she falls under, it costs her strength and power. If I have to watch her bleed out in this cell, I will kill your father for it.”
I believed him, too, Whispering, I said, “I’ll be right behind you.”
His eyes widened in surprise.
I glanced at Kate as she shifted on the cot. “When the time is right, I will get you both out of here, I swear on my life.”
“Oh you swear, do you? And why should I believe a damned word that comes out of your mouth?”
“You think I would let her die? Again?”
His hand reached through the bars and grabbed my throat, nearly bashing my face against the iron. He bared his teeth at me, growling furiously as his eyes narrowed, and the bones in his face started to contort and shift.
I didn’t fight back, I couldn’t.
Beneath the rage in his eyes, lay the fear of losing Kate, of losing the one person who meant the world to both of us in our past lives, and apparently in this life too.
I didn’t understand anything that was happening to us, but being near these two felt right, and I wasn’t going to fight that.
“I will get you both out of here, I swear it. I just need time, Craig,” I promised. “That’s all.”
“She doesn’t have much time,” he warned, and slowly removed his fingers from my throat, hanging his head in defeat of not being able to protect Kate. “If these visions keep coming, I don’t know how much more she can take before it drives her into insanity.”
We both looked toward the cot where Kate was turning and muttering under her breath.
“I’ll see what I can find out tonight, but you have to be ready. When our chance comes, I won’t be able to give you any warning.”
“We’ll be ready. You better not fail.”
The weight of their lives fell on my shoulders, and I whispered for Craig to take care of Kate before I ducked back into the shadows.
The next set of guards for the evening would be down here any second, and I had to get back upstairs.
Tracking down our bag with the shield pieces in it would have to wait until tomorrow morning, because tonight I had a different destination in mind.
We were still in need of any information we could dig up on the Darrah line, and what happened to them before they all but disappeared.
Craig mentioned knowing some answers were hidden away in the archives, so I turned right at the steps, barely dodging the patrol headed for the dungeons, and moved toward the east end of the palace where the library resided.
The heavy doors were unguarded, and I silently pushed one
open and slipped inside the vast halls of books and scrolls—documents that detailed the entire history of the dragons and many other races. No fires burned here, but several lanterns were kept nearby for the scholars who sometimes worked late into the night.
I picked one up, and with a puff of dragon fire, lit the small wick within.
The warm glow of light lit my path as I moved along the shelves that reached two stories high and covered every inch of available wall space. Anything on the Darrahs, if anything remained, would be toward the back of the library, so that was where I headed.
My mind kept drifting back to Kate, in pain, trapped between the past and the present while locked away in a cell. My fingers gripped the lantern tighter, and a growling echoed around the room—coming from me. I paused and forced my emotions down before someone heard and came to investigate.
At the rear of the library, I found the oldest stacks, mostly filled with loose pages the scholars were still busy copying into leather bound books to preserve. I set the lantern down and began sifting through the stacks, but after a half an hour of finding nothing, other than useless ramblings and dust, I tossed aside another stack with a curse of frustration.
The temptation to torch the entire library out of spite because of my foolish father allowing a dark part of our history to burn nearly got the better of me, but I leaned on the nearby table instead, glaring at the wood grain beneath my fingers.
I would have to return to my bed and find another way to get the information I needed in the morning.
As I picked up the lantern and turned to leave, something glimmered in the lantern’s flame.
I frowned, shifting back again to see what it was, when I saw the gems in the wall behind the shelves. I swung the lantern closer, but all I could see were two sapphires, and maybe a ruby—or two.
Something was carved into the stone! Not caring if I made a mess, I set the lantern down, grabbed the front of the shelf, and yanked it forward.
The wood legs wobbled and scraped the stone floor, sending papers falling everywhere, but I had a clear view of the wall behind it.
“No,” I whispered to the empty library as my jaw fell slack and I stared at the wall.
Before me, carved in perfect detail, was the shield of the Vindicar.
At one point, it had been filled with precious stones and gems to give it color, but many of them had long since disappeared leaving a sad few left behind.
Gingerly, I ran my fingers over them. The carving was the size of a shield and in the very center was a strange symbol I didn’t remember from the tapestry at the ruins.
A whispering voice brushed against my ear, and my hand moved of its own accord, pushing in the central black stone.
It sunk into the wall, and dust puffed out around the wall in the shape of a doorway that slowly swung inward.
I hesitated for a split second before I reached back for the lantern, and stepped into the room I never knew existed. From the layers of dust covering the few scattered tables and shelves that filled the small space, no one alive might know it was here either.
I spun around to take in the space and saw another tapestry hanging on the rear wall, much like the one in the infirmary, except this one was for the Darrah line, but it cut off abruptly the closer it went toward the top.
Hoping I’d find something useful, I started to my right with the first stack of scrolls I found, sat down on the floor, and started reading.
I hope you enjoyed Shards!
Look for the next book in this series!
Legends!
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Copyright © 2017 by Kit Bladegrave
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Shards (Dragon Reign Book 2) Page 15
