Page 24

23

SOMEONE’S NOT RIGHT IN THE HEAD

T he center of the castle opened up into a large foyer with stairs leading up in three different directions, north, west, and south. A mob of servants stood waiting for us, and I was relieved to find other living beings in such a cold, lifeless place.

Ciro tried to send Lennon and Griffon up one stairway with a servant to guide them to their new quarters. But they insisted on coming along to see our lodgings, so they would know where to find us. We continued to follow our unsettling and untrustworthy host along the same straight path, now with a few servants in tow. Only when we were close to running out of hallway did he stop and open a door.

He gestured grandly with his arm and ushered us inside a large apartment furnished nearly as well as the Semels’ keep. “This is all yours, Princess.” His gaze found me. “I thought you might appreciate a great deal of privacy, what with…all your men.”

He waited for me to protest. When I held my tongue, he went on.

“When the little woman has been treated for her wounds, she and the horned man will join you. The next room will accommodate your guards and besotted dragon rider. Surely, between the two rooms, you…Tearloch is it? You should find ample space to prepare…”

"Prepare for what?" Tearloch’s hand hovered over the hilt of his sword.

The DeNoy’s expression darkened, but his voice remained light, too light. "I’ve chosen the wrong word. I meant to say train . I assume warriors like yourself train continually.”

Griffon’s wings were tucked tightly behind him, but the tension in his posture was impossible to miss. "And what about food?" Griffon asked, his voice low, wary. "How close is the dining hall?"

Ciro chuckled, a dry sound that grated on my nerves. "You’ll have your meals brought to your rooms. No need to wander the halls. And at night, this castle can be... tricky after dark. High-strung guards and…other considerations. Best to stay where you are."

Tearloch's grip tightened on his sword hilt. "Tricky how?"

“The usual," Ciro said, waving a hand as if dismissing the thought. "Old castles have their quirks. Drafts, creaky floors, doors that close on their own, get stuck for no reason. It’s nothing to worry about, as long as you stay put. Besides, after your harrowing fall from the sky and your long journey on foot, you’ll need to recover."

I watched him carefully. Every word came with something unsaid, something darker. "And what happens if we don't stay in our rooms?" I asked, my voice quieter than Tearloch's, but sharper.

Our host’s smile faltered, just for a heartbeat. "I wouldn’t recommend testing the castle’s patience," he said, his tone flat. "Or mine."

Lennon took a step forward, Griffon at her side. "We don’t like being divided. There is room enough here for all of us."

"True, but don’t you wish to be closer to Kivi—never mind.” His smile stretched tight. “Of course, you’re nervous. You don’t yet trust me. So, stay here with your friends today, tonight. And tomorrow I will show you, dear Lennon, what you are missing." His suddenly sober gaze took in all our faces. “Remember what I said. Stay where you are expected. Surprises will prove…unfortunate.” He suddenly turned on his heel, his cloak sweeping the floor behind him as he vanished through the doorway. As if remembering his manners, he called out from down the hall, “Until tomorrow!”

Still, I held my breath, expecting him to come back and swing his sword at someone.

"We can’t trust a word he says.” Lennon’s attention remained on the door as well.

Tearloch agreed. "Not for a second,"

"Then what do we do?"

Tearloch and Griffon exchanged a nod, then said in unison, "We stay awake."

* * *

I hated to admit that Ciro was right about anything, but we were exhausted. Morrow took his men and Nogel to the room next door. If there was trouble, they could get back to us quickly, either through the hallway or from the courtyard. No one had locked us in.

We split into shifts and sought out the bedchambers so we could rest up for whatever lay ahead. Tearloch and Dower took the first watch. I got a bed to myself, so I stripped off my damaged gown and stretched out. With Tearloch on guard, it was almost easy for me to relax and let sleep take me.

I hadn’t been unconscious for long, however, when the food arrived. I donned my apprentice robes—they were much warmer than the gown, able to keep out the cold as well as they’d kept out the sun and the heat of the south for most of my life. It was a comfort to be back in familiar skin.

I received a few surprised looks from my friends when I joined them at the table.

We were given trays full of meats and pungent cheeses, fruits, and breads, tureens of hearty soup to chase the chill away, and pitchers of ale and water. Bain went to collect Morrow and the others. But when the servants tried to take their leave, Tearloch stopped them.

He towered over one young man and demanded, “Has the food been poisoned? Drugged?”

The youngling shook his head.

“Then you wouldn’t mind sampling it all?”

His brows flew high, but his surprise came with a smile, and he happily went around the table, tasting every dish. The poor thing was probably hungrier than we were, and that was saying something. Tearloch came to the same conclusion and insisted that all eight servants prove the food was safe, and after they were finished, there was still plenty left for the rest of us.

When they finally slipped out the door, Nogel followed. And we all tucked in while we waited for him to come back, unsure what his plans were. Half an hour later, the door opened. The look on our dragon rider’s face was difficult to read.

Lennon pushed him into a chair and passed him food. We should have known something was wrong when someone so young and so hungry had to be forced to eat.

“Leave the man alone,” Griffon said gently. “Let him speak.”

Tearloch checked the hall, then closed the door and nodded. “All clear.”

Nogel pushed his food away. “We need to get out of here.”

“Tell us.”

He shivered. “Do you know why those servants never spoke? Because they don’t have tongues. They’ve been cut out. Burned out. Most of them are Ard Draoi , the ones who pray for the return of the blue dragon. They thought that by serving in The Soundless they would be the first to hear when the blue dragon returned. But they didn’t know what the DeNoy were like. Those monsters think it’s amusing to force a druid to decide between serving here and the ability to say their prayers aloud.”

While we all exchanged looks of revulsion and disgust, Nogel reached for a cup, filled it with ale, and drained it.

Lennon patted his free hand. “If they have no tongues, how do you know?—”

“They took me to a woman in the kitchen who could speak. She says if Lord Ciro wants good food, his cook needs her tongue. She also said Ciro is a devil, and we want to leave before…before we are trapped here for good.”

Tearloch leaned on the table. “Did she say how they’ll trap us? Is it the dome?”

Nogel paled and shook his head carefully. “If we break any law, any rule, we’ll be sent to their arena—for their bloodsport games. You think that’s why Ciro suggested we keep up our training?”

“Bloodsport?” Lennon got to her feet and began pacing. “What the hell does that mean?”

“A fight to the death.” Griffon ran both hands through his hair and tipped his head back. Tendons stretched in his neck when he growled at the ceiling. “Obviously, he is setting us up to break the law somehow. And not knowing those laws, we’ll walk right into his traps.”

Everyone around the room slowly deflated. Their attention fell to the table or the floor, their shoulders slumped.

“We can’t just give up,” I said, pointing out the obvious. “They can’t expect us to know their rules until they explain them, correct?”

Tearloch’s expression was pure pity as he dragged a finger down the outside of my sleeve. “Ciro is anything but reasonable. We will just have to prepare ourselves, be ready for the worst.”

I backed away from him, from all of them, and held my arms out to my sides. “Look at me. Do I look like someone who can fight? And what about Minkin? Who—or what—will she have to kill to survive?”

Tearloch came at me then, grabbing my upper arms and forcing me back, all the way back, until the wall stopped me. His head lowered, and my mouth fell open in surprise. I hadn’t expected him to kiss me in front of his friends.

But he didn’t kiss me. He never looked at my lips. Instead, he stared hard into my eyes and growled. “You need to remember who you are. You need to remember everything you’ve done since leaving your little sanctuary in the canyon. You faced every challenge. You reached into your pocket and drew out miracle after miracle. You were determined to save us all from our fate. And I believe you will. But first, you have to get through this next test.”

He pressed his lips to my forehead, and a little fissure of tingles lit along the sides of my face, down my neck, and found my heart.

“Remember, you know things others do not. And you’ll have to pull from that knowledge to survive. But you will survive, do you hear me?”

Tears leaked from my eyes and poured down my cheeks. I was so tired, so very, very tired. I just wanted to go home, to find my ramshackle house intact, to open the door and hear Demius reading aloud. He would take one look and wrap his arms around me and let me weep until my emotions were spent. Then I’d crawl into my bed where he would cover me with a heavy blanket…

But Demius was gone. My home was gone. And my only source of comfort was the man standing in front of me.

I lifted my chin, looked into Tearloch’s eyes, and silently begged for relief.

He released my shoulders and scooped me up in his arms, carried me a few feet, and sank into a large, soft chair where he held me against him and let me do my worst. He never said a word to hurry me along, never bothered with inanities. I completely forgot there were others in the room.

When my weeping finally waned, I felt more than heard him chuckle and pulled back to see what he thought was funny.

“I was just thinking what a pitiful job I’ve done of protecting you, of saving you. But at least I had a dry shirt available when you needed it most.”

“If you two are finished…” Griffon waved for us to rejoin them all at the table. “Let’s see if we can come up with a reasonable plan to escape this place before Lord Maniac can catch us.”