Page 96 of Midnight Wedding

“Only if you asked him to.”

He flinches slightly and turns on me. “What do you want me to do about this right now? You’re talking about secret passageways and mysterious strangers, while I have a war to manage.”

My eyebrows raise. “I know you’re stressed, but you shouldn’t talk to me that way.”

He immediately looks contrite. “I’m sorry, baby.” He comes to me and takes my hands. “I’m not trying to be dismissive. It’s just been a long day and I’m stressed.”

“Don’t take it out on me.”

“I’m not. At least, I didn’t mean to. Forgive me.”

I raise his hands to my lips and kiss them. “You’re forgiven. Just don’t let it happen again.”

He sighs and leans forward, pressing his forehead to mine. “I won’t.Yes sirum yem k’ez.”

“You still haven’t told me what that means.”

“You already know, baby.” He pulls away, his fingertips trailing on mine. “Don’t worry about the passages for now. We’ll deal with that when there’s more time.”

I don’t argue. It’s clear he’s struggling with whatever happened today, and I’m worried that if I press, it’ll only make things worse. “If you need me, I’ll be upstairs in the library.”

“Good.” He hesitates. “I know it’s hard, but please, stay away from the forbidden wing for a few days.”

“What’s in there?”

“Just trust me. For once, stay away.” He gives me a long look and sighs, shaking his head. “You’re going to be trouble.”

“Never.”

I almost makeit through the night.

Arsen doesn’t come to bed. Men keep coming and going. It’s clear whatever happened escalated things in the war. I spend the evening in the library and try to get some sleep, but I can’t make my eyes stay closed.

Not when something’s going on and I don’t know what.

I slip out around one in the morning. There are voices down in the kitchen. I creep past the stairs, find the secret latch on the library fireplace, and shimmy my way into the narrow passages in the walls.

It’s creepy as fuck at night. The rooms with lights on in them send some weak light streaming in little gaps. I use my phone to navigate and do my best not to make too much noise. At one point, I hear Tigran and Arsen arguing about something. Their voices are muffled, but I can tell Arsen’s not happy.

“…kill her now and be done with it,” Tigran says.

“I know your stance on this, brother, but we’re going to find a different solution first.”

“Garen’s not responding to our messengers. What makes you think he’ll even come to the table?”

“He’ll come. Give him time.”

“How much time?”

“As long as we need. Trust me, Tigran. Let this play out.”

Tigran’s frustrated response gets lost as the men move into a different room. I shuffle along, trying to keep pace with them, but eventually I get lost and have to backtrack.

The passages are hard to navigate, but I’m getting the hang of it. Years spent practicing urban exploring really come in handy. The dust and the mouse droppings don’t even bother me.

Well, not that much, anyway.

I follow the commotion and try to catch snatches of conversation. Eventually, I find myself on the far side of the house, and I realize I’m in the forbidden wing. I hadn’t even meant to cross that invisible line, but this is where most of the men are concentrated. Several guards are in the hall where Maud and I cleaned up the majority of the old blood.

---