Page 88 of The Lost Prince
And voices.
I paused, carefully setting my torch up against the wall so the flame could continue to burn. If it went out, I wasn’t sure if I had enough supplies (or practiced skill) to get another one going.
Creeping up towards the fresh air, I found a large boulder across the path. But to the side of it was a large gap that I could slide through.
“More patrols. What good will it do?”
Fireguards.
“One of the girls went missing after they fed the other to the dragon. You know how the queen is about her girls,” remarked a second voice, raspy and low.
“Dunno why they all try to run away. It’s a better life than anything we had, eh? Free food, clothes, a soft bed. Why, I’d suck a Noble dick for all of that!”
The Fireguards laughed, and I tried to count. Three, maybe four in total.
I waited, and their voices and footsteps faded away into the distance.
Girl.Shava.They were looking for Shava.
Should I feel jilted? No one was worried about me? It was probably for the best. I was known for disappearing for days (even weeks) at a time as I got lost in my research.
Besides, people always knew when their pretty possessions went missing.
Pushing myself through the narrow wedge in the stone, I emerged under the large dome at night. Above me loomed a large cliff and the castle itself, imposing from this steep, impossible angle.
The tunnel led right from the mud quarter to underneath the palace. Interesting.
I should go back and meet Shava.
And yet … I still likely had hours yet before it was dawn. Plenty of time to sneak into the castle and gather my notes and a few more materials to perform the next ritual … or three.
And food.
And another robe. A pillow wouldn’t be amiss either.
Hmm. Perhaps I’d have to find a few more satchels.
* * *
I was feeling pretty productive. I had several satchels of supplies—and my notes, and had run into no trouble at all.
Suspiciously so.
Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I didn’t linger as I gathered everything and made my way back out of the palace, towards the boulder with its fissure that held the tunnel.
Or tried to.
“There you are.”
I turned, satchels swinging haphazardly as I struggled to unsheathe my dagger while burdened down with my bags. My heart pounded wildly in my chest as the figure grabbed my wrist, flaring my blood magick in my panic. Golden light illuminated a familiar face, however more haggard and worn than I was used to seeing it.
“Vession,” I managed weakly. “You startled me.”
His dark shadow in the corridor gave credence to why the boys always referred to him as a great bat. I wasn’t sure what his presence here meant for me. “Where have you been? The queen has been asking questions. What have youdone?”
The golden sigils on my arms, face, and neck had faded back into my body, but Vession continued to stare at my skin as though it would come back any moment. I really needed to learn how to control that.
I arched an eyebrow. So my absencehadbeen noticed, and by the queen herself. “The queen herself?”
