Page 63 of When Day Breaks

"Here," she whisper-yells, pulling on a doorknob to a room hidden in the part of the stretch that isn't covered by light source.

We both pull ourselves into the room but before she closes us in, I stop and turn.

"What are you doing?" she asks frantically as I run across the hall while yanking off my jacket.

I open another door just a few down, knowing that the mob of whoever is after us is not far down, and I toss my jacket in, hoping to get rid of the scent of my perfume. For extra measure, I lift up the flowers that sit in a vase on a side table, trickle a little of the soiled water over my chest, hating the unpleasantness of the water seeping into my shirt and hitting my skin, before putting things back in order and rushing to get the other room.

Troy holds her breath as she clicks the door closed as quietly as she can and we both jog over to hide behind the biggest object we can find. We crouch behind an armoire that sits against the wall, but we position ourselves so that we can't be seen over the couch that's in front of us a few feet. I don't really take too much time to pick apart the room we've found ourselves in, but it looks kind of like an unoccupied office. Like this space has been unused for a while, the way the dust feels thick in the air is the tell.

We hear the footsteps come up to the door quickly, causing me to mold myself as far into the wall as possible, and I freeze when something clicks behind me.

Troy and I turn our heads as carefully as possible, knowing that at any moment the door could burst open up on us and we'd be caught. We maneuver gently to find that the wall behind us moved and seems to be some sort of secret entrance.

We look at each other for no more than a moment's time before we make the decision to climb in, me first and her crawling behind me. We both let out a breath as we shut the wall-door back into place, unscathed.

We're stuck on our hands and knees as the ceiling above us doesn't extend more than two feet above the floor. Where we found ourselves is pitch black and we're forced to feel our way around to determine which way to go. Luckily, it doesn't seem like there are any extra turns we have to make choices on, as thehidden tunnel leads us straight to an opening that looks like a giant air vent.

We don't say a single word as we shift to get the air grate open, not knowing if anything might echo or where this hideaway might lead, but as we slide the door open, we both climb out and my body stretches as I'm able to stand straight again.

The room is dark, but it’s graced with the lighting of one of the largest windows I have ever seen allowing for sunlight to filter through generously. I wait for Troy to stand with me before I exhale the breath I was holding.

"That was lucky," she whispers.

"Where do you think we are?" I ask as I notice the near twenty-foot walls covered in shelves on shelves of books.

There's an old leather sofa in the center of the room with a single side table and a lone table lamp. There’s an unlit fireplace placed intricately between two shelves of weathered books. The carpeting under our feet feels almost too historical to be stepped on but other than that and the air smells a bit musty.

"Well, I know we're not on the second floor anymore," I hear Troian mumble.

I turn to see that she's standing in front of the large, flamboyant, gothic-style window adorned with intricate ornamentation and scattered inside a few of the shaped window panes are richly colored stained-glass squares. I approach her by her side and look out, not needing to stretch as the window starts at the floor and goes more than halfway up the wall. It’s got to be at least eight feet wide as well.

I look down, seeing that we have to be nearly five stories high—the very top of the castle.That's strange, I didn't feel an incline as we traveled through the hidden pathway. I trace the window all the way up and passed toward the top of the window frame. I notice that all of the walls lean up into a thin point at the very top, closing in the room. It's a very well thought out designplan, and a rather intimate setting for a library. A hidden one at that.

But the chances of anyone else knowing of this room are high so just as easily as we escaped here, we can be found.

I look around the room to see if I can spot another door but come up short. I notice Troy also having the same mindset. We both walk around the large space, careful not to make too much noise. While we may be safe hundreds of feet above where the guards were tracing us in a potentially secret room, we're unaware of anything surrounding the room so we both make it a point to remain hushed. I find myself walking to one of the corners where darkness looms, noticing that the bookshelves cutoff at the end of the wall. Before I reach the back wall, I see a small alcove to the right of me and . . . stairs.

"Troy," I whisper as I wave my sister over. She comes up behind me and we both analyze. It's a steel staircase that rounds in a spiral up through what looks like a layer of flooring. It's only about six feet up from where we stand and whatever is up there seems to be boxed in with more walls.

"You or me?" she asks and I look between her and the staircase. I really would like to go up there, but I'd only be doing it for the curiosity and adventure of it all. Troian is here for answers, and while we may not have found our mother, I know she'll be on a mission to look for anything to help her not leave empty handed.

"Be my guest," I say to her as I take a step back and watch her climb the stairs and disappear, as if into thin air.

21

sordid dissemination

Rivian

Lucynda has quelled my rage and inspired goodness in me. Not perpetually, but the kind of goodness that allows me to be free of my anguish and frivolous selfish agendas and see the true value of the things I hide myself from.

"Everything should be good to go." The sound of Kacian's voice shakes me from festering in my thoughts for too long, knowing that I miss her as she travels with my sister to find answers.

But I have to focus on the task at hand.

I turn around to find my wife's guard standing at my doorway. I wave him in as I reach the top shelf for a decanter of my oldest scotch, pulling down two glasses with it.

He approaches the desk and I can still feel the animosity radiate from him. Before taking off to my mother's house with Lucynda, I had a private meeting with Kacian. I explained everything to him, minus the back and forth sibling drama andhe listened, though I know he wanted to do more than that. But I gave up everything from meeting Lucynda to her curse, to my secret agendas and the reason for needing Nathairia, and everything else in between.

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