Page 51 of Beguiled
I’d been but a wee child the last time I used the tunnel with my father, and my memories were tempered by time. Moreover, unlike the tension of the present, our exploring had been carefree as we pretended we were escaping from the castle far above while it was under attack from a dangerous enemy. I’d raced up and down the winding trails while my father chased after, the low ceilings and narrow walls impeding his movement as they were now doing to mine.
In hindsight, I couldn’t help but wonder if my father’s motivation for taking me to the passageway had been much deeper than mere child’s play. Had he been preparing me for a real siege? Or had he worried I’d have a need to escape the queen one day?
Regardless, I was grateful I could get into the castle without having to go through the main gatehouse. While I might have been able to use my veil to disguise myself for a short time, eventually someone would have recognized me and alerted the queen to my presence.
Now I hoped I could enter and exit undetected during the dark of night with fewer servants and soldiers to evade.
I’d expected a guard at the entrance in the underground burial chambers of the cathedral, but no one had been there, not even the nuns who lived in the abbey above the vault. It hadn’t taken overlong to pick the locks securing the hidden door. But I accomplished the feat with one of my hairpins, grateful for the many ways Irontooth had prepared me for this return.
I paused and held out my torch, straining to see ahead. My neck and shoulders ached from stooping for so long. But after an hour of climbing, I could finally see the end.
Releasing a taut breath, I allowed myself the first respite since I’d snuck out the upstairs window of the tavern after darkness had fallen. No doubt Mikkel was furious with me for leaving. And no doubt he’d guessed I was setting off on a rescue of Ruby without him. I hated the prospect that he was angry and perhaps disappointed in me.
Nevertheless, I preferred to keep him alive and experience his wrath rather than to risk him falling into the queen’s hands. That meant I had to return to the tavern with Ruby by first light before he and Gregor left for the castle once more.
I braced a hand against the cold stone wall and glanced back down the winding tunnel, now dark and silent. My torchlight illuminated spiderwebs, rat droppings, and crumbling stone. The passageway hadn’t been used in years, perhaps not since my father’s and my escapades. Did the queen even remember it was here? If she did, I hoped she didn’t know Father had revealed it to me and consequently have guards posted at the top.
With my back hunched, I scrambled up the last incline. As I rounded a final bend, I ducked under more dusty spiderwebs. The passageway widened and ended at several steps leading to a hatch in the stone ceiling. Though the wooden slats appeared easy to lift, it was locked from the other side and led directly to another hatch concealed under a carpet in the antechamber off the great hall. At the late hour, I prayed no one was in the small room my mother used to meet privately with advisors.
For long seconds, I listened for voices or sounds from above. Even though silence greeted me, it was still possible for guards to be lying in wait. I wouldn’t know for certain until I pushed up the rug.
Unwilling to let uncertainty stop me, I thrust my knife into the hatch and chipped away at the old wood until my fingers were blistered and arms were trembling from weariness. After making a hole large enough to squeeze my hand through, I fumbled for the lock and blindly worked at picking it.
The process was slow, and with each failed attempt, I grew more flustered. Would I need to return to the tavern and admit my failure? Perhaps I’d have no choice but to follow Mikkel’s plan. Certainly it had some merit.
And yet, I couldn’t shake the fear that the queen would hold Mikkel hostage to draw in Vilmar, the same way she was holding Ruby in order to gain me. I couldn’t chance letting her have another person I loved.
My fingers came to a halt against the rusted lock. Did I love Mikkel?
I shook my head. No, I couldn’t love him. I cared about him and had developed a bond with him. But I surely hadn’t fallen in love. I needed him. That’s all. Ruby and I needed his aid in reaching the safety of a new life in Scania. Once there, I’d do what I’d planned all along—give him an annulment. Wouldn’t I?
“Focus,” I whispered, as I pressed the hairpin against the inner lock mechanism once more. I slowed my motion, probed harder, and felt the slight click that meant I’d jarred it loose.
I wasted no further time. I pried the lock away, slid the hatch aside, and then pressed on the second hatch just inches above the first. It didn’t budge, and I prayed no one had moved a piece of furniture onto it. If so, I wouldn’t have a chance of entering this way.
I heaved again, and this time the wooden slats lifted slightly. Praise be. Nothing too heavy sat on the hatch. Though my arms burned with the pressure of the exertion, I managed to slide the hatch away little by little until I’d made an opening big enough for my body. Extinguishing the torch and leaving it behind, I crawled up and underneath the rug until I bumped into the legs of a chair. I halted, not wanting to tip anything and cause a clatter.
I shifted my direction and exited from underneath the carpet in a different location. Quickly and quietly, I placed the hatch back over the opening and then situated the rug. If anyone came into the room before I made my escape with Ruby, at least they wouldn’t be any wiser for my intrusion.
Though I was nowhere near Ruby yet, I felt as though I’d accomplished the hardest part of my mission by getting inside undetected. I had many more obstacles to overcome, but the rest of the distance to the east tower and Ruby’s chambers was familiar. I’d already plotted my route and would stick to unlit servants’ corridors as I made my way there.
As I took a deep breath, I could almost smell the waft of my mother’s rich perfume and picture her face—flawless and beautiful and regal. And yet so cold and uncaring.
What had happened to cause her to lose her love for her family? Had she lost it when she’d had the falling out with her father and sister? She rarely talked about her family, particularly her twin sister, Leandra. I’d never known my aunt, since she’d died giving birth to her only child, my cousin Aurora.
However, I’d gleaned enough to know my mother felt as though their father, King Alfred, had always favored Leandra. She claimed he’d given Leandra the better inheritance by bestowing upon her the kingdom of Mercia as well as an ancient set of three keys that unlocked a fabled treasure.
How could a treasure—that may or may not exist—be better than a gem mine already producing jewels? Or how was Mercia better, since it was smaller?
I suspected Mother’s hurt stemmed more from feeling unloved than from an inferior inheritance. And at times, I also suspected feeling rejected by her family had caused her to close herself off to her children. Perhaps she unconsciously believed if she didn’t love anyone, then she wouldn’t be hurt again.
Whatever the case, I’d stopped having any sympathy for her the day she’d tried to have me killed. The last vestiges of respect and love had vanished. Henceforth, I didn’t care what became of her, only that I could free Ruby from her control.
As I crept across the antechamber toward the door, the floor squeaked. I halted and waited, listening for the approach of footsteps from the noble knights, squires, and pages resting amongst the rushes of the great hall.
After a moment of silence, I expelled a breath and continued. Thankfully, the door didn’t squeal on its hinges as I opened it. I stayed low and slipped along the perimeter of the room with my back pressed against the cold wall. The hearth fire glowed low, adding enough light that I could make my way without bumping into anyone or anything.
When I was close to the bottom of the double marble stairway that led to the second floor, a nearby dog lifted its head and looked in my direction. When it stood and released a low huff, I froze.
