Page 86 of Null & Void

I sit up, splashing water everywhere. What is that outline on the ceiling?

I slosh my way forward to the end of the bath, trying to get a better look at the ceiling in the corner, shrouded by the cabinet. Still unable to see clearly, I splash back to the other end for the lantern. Standing, I step out of the bath and walk directly to the corner holding the lamp up to light the corner.

“Tovi…” I call distractedly, then clear my throat and say it loud enough for her to hear.

Tovi stomps in. “What are you…Why are you naked, Mika?” she whines.

“Tovi.”

“There’s water everywhere!”

“Tovi!”

“What?” she vociferates, and I point to the ceiling.

“Look.”

Her mouth drops open, and she walks toward me, slips a little, glares, and then stares back up at the ceiling. “Is that a door?”

“Looks like some kind of hatch. Person sized.”

Tovi and I share a look of triumph before she looks down and remembers I’m stark naked and shakes her head. “I’ll have a look while you’re gone, but you have to get dressed. They’ll be here to collect you soon.”

I look at her and growl with a pout. I want to be the one to explore, but she’s right. I deliberately stomp my feet so the water on the ground splashes her as I reach for my towel. I hear Tovi mumble “bitch” under her breath, and I smile to myself.

“Do you think they will have made contact?” she asks as I’m getting dressed into another doxy outfit, this time with black lace underwear and a champagne-colored sheer nightdress.

“I hope so. This sitting around and not knowing and not really doing anything is wearing thin—almost as thin as this stupid dress!”

Tovi chuckles as she helps with my cloak again. “You’re just jealous that I get to look in the hatch before you. Make sure you ask him about his father this time.”

Annoyed but admonished, I give her a nod before knocking on our doors so the guards can escort me to Prince Eryn’s rooms. I send a silent prayer to the Divine for no detours this time.

Fortunately, I'm taken directly to the prince’s rooms, and after the guards take my cloak, I find Eryn in his bedroom like last time.

“Hello, my sweet Prince,” I tease.

“Ugh. I think this outfit is worse than the last. Here,” Eryn says with exaggerated disgust, as he throws me a blanket, smirking. I smile and shake my head as I drape the blanket around me like a cloak.

With a heavy sigh, Eryn tells me that he hasn’t made contact with the team yet. “I wasn’t able to go to the garden at all yesterday because of the rain, and then today it was only for an hour because my father had me parading around in front of some important people playing the dutiful son of a loving father.”

“Well, that’s a shame, but hopefully soon. We couldn’t expect it to be that easy.”

“I’m not done with the bad news, unfortunately. I asked my father when you two would be moved in with the rest of the Royal doxies, and he said you wouldn’t be. That wing is for his doxies only, and if you were to move there, I couldn’t see you again.”

Reminded, I excitedly tell him about the strange hatch we found in the ceiling of the washroom. “We hadn’t noticed it because it’s a rather dark corner of the space, and there’s also a large ornate cabinet in the corner blocking it from view. Do you know if there is some kind of crawl space between other rooms?”

Frowning, Eryn gets up to look in his washroom. “Maybe. Could also just be storage.”

We analyze every nook and cranny of his washroom ceiling, and we find one.

“What does this mean?” Eryn asks distractedly as we both glare at the outline of a hatch, with me still wrapped in his blanket.

“It means that we may not need to be moved in with the rest of the Royal doxies.”

Finally understanding the enormity of the discovery, Eryn almost skips back to his bedroom. “He grilled me about our first meeting, by the way,” Eryn says, changing the subject. “I told him, and his lie detector, that I wanted to see you more but that I wasn’t ready to sleep with you, which is definitely not a lie,” he exaggerates with a lopsided grin.

I try to laugh at his cheekiness but I’m sobered by the mention of his father. I know I need to ask him, but I don't want to sour the mood.

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