Page 18 of First Ritual

He tilted the eight-pointed star very slightly. “You would’ve noticed you were walking downhill? The tunnels are all on a subtle slope. That’s pretty much the layout.”

I considered the layout, then jabbed my finger in the middle of the star. “We’re here on the bottom level?”

“Yes.” He circled a finger in the middle of each floating square. “Novice rooms are right in the center.”

The smaller rooms I’d passed. “Proven rooms are directly off the main tunnels?”

“Correct. Easier to access, and we get bigger rooms.”

Way to casually drop that he was proven. “Where do the esteemed sleep?”

“In the tips.”

I studied the eight tips of the star. “Bigger rooms again?”

He raised both brows this time. “Understatement.”

Okay, things were making sense. “What about all the other amenities?”

“Toilet and shower blocks are halfway down each side of each square. Esteemed and guest quarters have their own bathrooms. Coven supply storage is found near each corner, then the learning centers are all off the top tunnel system. Apothecary down the west tunnel, divination in the east tunnel, battle in the north tunnel, and grimoire in the south tunnel.”

Learning centers. Grandmother told me about those. “Thanks. This really helps.”

Bedwyr colored. “No problem.”

“The mornings are for affinity practice?” I asked the woman on my other side.

She briefly met my gaze. “Yeah. You just pick which one you’d like to work on.”

“What do you guys do in the afternoon?”

“Depends what’s needed for caves.” She stood and grabbed her tray.

Caves? I frowned.

“Listen,” she said quickly. “I’m late and it’s Thursday. Nice to meet you, though.”

Did she mean that? Not that I expected everyone to be as welcoming as Bedwyr. Maybe she really was in a rush, though it beat me why the day of the week mattered. “You too. Hey, what was your name?”

“May. See you around.”

The eating area was emptying. With a goodbye to Bedwyr, I started for the west tunnels to find the apothecary learning center. I paused.

Maybe I was in a divination mood. An urge to hone my divination affinity wasn’t the norm for me—at all—and I hadn’t felt brave enough to return there since last month. When that mood did strike, I tried to listen to it…

Apothecary, west.

Divination, east.

I spun on my heel, then peered around the empty eating area. Shit, where did I enter again?

Seriously, a tour guide would’ve been handy for the new girl.

I exited into a larger tunnel, listening to my echoing footsteps. Eventually my ears picked up the noise of a larger group ahead. A short tunnel extended to a cavernous chamber.

Stone stairs wound down, down, down. Every wall and most of the ceiling were covered in plants. I could see a mine shaft on the far side, too, beyond that was a case brimming with gemstones. A second case was filled with objects that I assumed were other objects of power. A couple of older men and women worked in individual greenhouses, bent over books and scribbling furiously.

Apothecary.

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