Page 6 of Tales of a Monstrous Heart
Trapped.
I stuffed the ruined notes in my bag before rolling my stiff shoulders, feeling a strange cool prod at the exposed nape of my neck. A brush of frigid air, far sharper than the night breeze, like some strange presence trying to get my attention.
I looked down the shadowed corridor, the bench squeaking in protest, but there was nothing but the open window and the endless night. Thick shadows lingered in the corners of the hallway. The gold stitched tapestry of Elysior pinned to the wall rippled in the night air. The lanterns flickering more dimly than they had before.
Here.Something whispered in my mind, sending me slowly to my aching legs. To wander cautiously into that darkness, letting my palms run down the worn fabric of my stolen breeches, torn and ruined by my most recent misadventure.
Cautiously my magic flared, making my fingers glow slightly, but I curled them into fists, refusing its help. I wasn’t afraid, not as those shadows seemed to weaken, slipping carefully away, brushing over the stones in retreat to let the moonlight back in through the window. In a blink it was as if they had never been there at all.
‘Katherine.’ Master Hale’s voice sent me lurching around, hand to my chest to see him standing behind me, curiosity marking his weathered features.
The once-great war hero was still an imposing figure despite his old age and ailing health. His greying brown hair was in disarray as he limped down the hall to me, leaning heavily on his cane. Those deep navy council robes dragging acrossthe ground, the silver pin of the scroll and sword showing him to be a Master Mage.
Guilt and shame rushed through me. ‘I didn’t—’
‘I know.’ He sighed, shaking his head almost incredulously. ‘The ruins?’
‘I’m sorry.’ I let my shoulders drop with defeat. He didn’t ask much of me, but I still managed to break the few promises I’d made.
‘Poor Alma will be scandalised.’ He huffed, leaning more heavily on his cane.
I’d forgotten about Alma. She’d lose her mind the minute she found out. I only hoped gossip didn’t travel faster than I could get back to my room. Silently scolding myself for not trying to slip away sooner. To find her and explain.
‘This hunger for knowledge isn’t going to end well, Katherine.’ Hale spoke softly as he stepped closer, cautious of anyone else hearing the warning. ‘No matter how much I know you enjoy the older texts these fools have forgotten about deep beneath these floors, it will never end well.’
He wasn’t wrong, but stubbornness was unfortunately another flaw I possessed.
‘When did that ever stop you?’ I challenged.
‘You should take this old fool as a warning.’ A small laugh left his lips, which turned too easily into a retching cough that stopped him in his tracks as he fumbled with trembling fingers for his handkerchief.
‘Master Hale?’ I took a firmer hold of his arm, trying to make him sit on that horrid bench to rest, but he shook his head as he pressed a handkerchief to his lips, only for it to come away bloody.
The sharp sting of fear consumed my heart. This man, who used to be the greatest warrior in Elysior, who once servedthe Mage King before joining the Lord’s rebellion to free Elysior, was reduced to nothing but a weakening husk. This strange illness that no healer could cure was like a curse put on him for helping me.
‘Go on, it’s best you get out of sight for a while. I’m certain Alma will want to sort you out.’ He cleared his throat, avoiding my concern as he tucked the bloody fabric back into his robes, revealing the cuff to be speckled with more blood from a previous bout. ‘We’ll talk in the morning.’
He was getting worse.
‘The Council …’ I began, letting my gaze wander down the hall to closed doors of the Council Chamber, where the disciplinary hearings usually took place.
‘It’s late.’ There was a sharp dismissiveness to his voice. ‘They’ll take a day or so to gather if they wish to raise a complaint. Let us hope they lose interest in their pettiness before then.’
Hope. What a fickle and cruel thing. Crueller for how long ago it had abandoned me.
My lips parted in protest only for a distant ringing to begin, halting the very breath in my lungs. A sound I knew all too well.
Warning bells. Loud and thunderous from deep beneath the stone floor, making it rumble with the sound. Something from the ruins beneath had awoken, something big enough to set off the wards.
The lanterns flickered violently, almost plunging us into darkness as the guards down the hall jumped to attention, rushing off in the direction of the old entrances to the ruins beneath.
‘Go to your room, Katherine.’ Hale patted my arm, something in his expression guarded before he left me standing there in the draughty hallway as he hobbled away. That feeling of unease remaining inside me, nibbling insistently, telling me that something wasn’t right.
I ignored it, knowing nothing was ever right here.
‘Idiot,’ I hissed to myself, as I finally took my chance to flee. Moving through the stone hallways, the echoing taunt of those warning bells made the dread sink deeper. Ignoring the old leering statues of previous mages holding scrolls of wisdom, feeling their judging stone glares as I passed each one.
I moved up the narrow spiralling staircase, past the students’ floor, higher and higher until I reached the cramped fey quarters. A dark corridor greeted me, considering I was the only remaining resident and had to light my own lanterns.
