Page 131 of Of Blood and Banes
Sethan turns to Marge. “Any idea which way we need to go for the libraries?”
Marge shakes her head. “No. But if it’s built similarly to the castle in Arterias, the library would be in the northwestern part.”
“We can split up?” Archie offers.
Sethan whips a disappointed glare at Archie. “No, we aren’t splitting up.”
“Why not?” I step forward. “If we split up, we can cover the grounds quicker. And if we separate into three groups, with a dragon in each, we should be able to communicate via them.”
Sethan’s jaw works, clearly not wanting to give Archie a single lick of recognition, before he glances at Marge.
She snorts. “Don’t look at me. They make a good point. Especially if we haven’t brought enough provisions to last us more than a night.”
Sethan scans the group, taking a mental headcount and working out some plan. His eyes settle on Melaina, his expression softening. “Melaina, you take Archie and go with Bristol and Nadja to explore the northern sections. Katerina and Daeja will take Marge and…”
He scans the group, his eyes falling on Cole. “Cole. You four will search the western quarter. Gavin, Nolan, and Darian, you’re with me on the east. If we can’t find anything, we’ll all reconvene here in the courtyard by sunset and search the southern section tomorrow. With it normally being dedicated to the guard rooms, towers, and armory, I doubt we’ll find anything there.”
“What are we looking for?” I ask.
“A book,” Marge answers plainly, as if I should have already known the answer.
“What kind of book?” Melania prompts.
“We’re looking for Queen Elara’s journal,” Sethan responds.
Archie scratches his head with a nervous smile. “You want us…to find the dead Queen’s diary?”
“Something like that.” Sethan’s voice is flat. “The castle might not be built for dragons to access all the rooms and hallways. The walls are built thick enough that they should support any of our dragons’ weights. If they cannot follow you into a section, do not go too far. While it’s been over a hundred years since Queen Elara died and this castle was attacked, there’s no telling what else might still be here. If you find yourself in trouble, alert your dragon rider so we may come to your aid.”
The courtyard we’ve come to discover is bordered all by storage rooms and hallways leading to the guard towers and outside barrier walls, with only the northern part of the courtyard leading out through the rest of the castle. A massive tower with arched columns spanning its width sits at the northern part of the square. Marge mentions it was likely where the King and Queen would address crowds from above, looking down into the courtyard. As we pass beneath it, I can’t help but look up and wonder how many lines of royalty spoke from the platform.
On the other side of the rounded tower is a wall of stone with four sets of thick wooden doors, wide and tall enough to allow a dragon through. Nadja steps forward, nudging the door with her muzzle, before she rears back and headbutts it. The door swings open with a rusty creak.
“I suppose they didn’t lock it,”Daeja murmurs.
“Maybe they didn’t have time…”I whisper back, a chill running down my spine.
We all step through the door into an enormous room with an endless expanse of marble floors and thickly carved stone columns holding up a five-story-high, curved ceiling. Hanging from lines of black, rusted chains, wound painfully tight, is a massive dragon carcass.
Melaina turns her head, tucking her nose into her elbow and gagging.
The stench of rotting flesh fills the grandiose room, burning my eyes and flipping my stomach over. Below the dragon carcass are rows and rows of ornate tables, and the ones directly beneath the dragon have dark stains. I drag my gaze back up to thelifeless dragon, its blue scales muddy with old blood and muted with death.
“Fuck,” Cole mutters, swinging his gaze down and away.
“At least it’s not a ripple,” Marge murmurs. “Whoever left it must have preserved its corpse with magic—as a message.”
“That’s…disturbing.” Archie grimaces. “Poor fella.”
Sethan sweeps his attention back to me. “If for some reason we cannot meet back in the courtyard, this room will be where we reassemble.”
I nod, and Sethan sends pointed gestures to separate directions for all our groups before we split up. I watch the dragon carcass, its flesh and scales torn at agonizing angles, as Cole, Marge, Daeja, and I stroll silently across to the back left corner of the room. Gold plates, cups, and cutlery with silk-spun napkins lie peacefully still on the tables. Several human corpses lie hunched over the tables, some half-in and half-out of their seats, while more bodies lie face first on the ground. More dragons are hung from the ceiling throughout the room like macabre chandeliers, all different colors: blue, green, and red.
I drag my attention away before a new wave of nausea rolls over me and before my fear coats over my limbs. Cole grabs my hand for a split-second and squeezes me, before dropping it again in the event anyone notices. I glance at him sideways, and he keeps his gaze set ahead on Marge. Daeja snorts, confirming she saw the motion.
The back corner of the ornate dining hall leads down a hallway, capturing our footsteps and amplifying the sound to an uncomfortable and eerie degree. Daeja tucks her wings in tight and dips her head to squeeze in after us. Thankfully, she’s half the size of the other dragons, otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to fit.
The end of the hallway leads to a door, which then leads to another outdoor courtyard. In front of us is a towering stonekeep, its windows peering out in every which direction. Marge leads us along its southern half, and we pass a gargantuan well. I peek over the edge and find only darkness, before stepping back into line behind Marge.
