Page 56 of Fates Fulfilled
“Garrin!” Lex screamed.
The soldiers and men in robes lifted him and carried him out and into the hallway.
“No!” Lex closed her eyes and called to her powers.
Absolutely nothing happened. When she looked up, Garrin and the soldiers were gone, the sound of their rapidly retreating footfalls the only thing left behind.
She jumped to her feet and ran after them, but the door slammed in her face. And it was locked from the outside.
“Let me out!” Lex banged on the door, then clutched her head, which pounded worse than when she’d woken from the Land of Ice. She sank to her knees, her mind racing.
Moments later, Em walked in as though the door hadn’t been secured.
Em appeared oblivious, looking down at something in her hands, the coat she’d promised hanging over her arm. “I found these gloves and thought you might wish to wear them in addition to… What has happened?” Em scanned Lex. “Are you all right, miss?”
Lex stumbled to her feet and grabbed Em. “They have him.”
“Who?” Em draped the coat over Lex’s shoulders, and Lex automatically slipped her arms through the sleeves.
“The prince. Palace guards took him.” She couldn’t trust anyone, but Garrin had entrusted Lex with Em. “It’s not safe for me inside the castle, and apparently, it isn’t safe for Garrin either.”
“But he is the prince. Why would he not be safe?”
Lex gripped the girl’s upper arms. “Em, will you help me?”
Em looked utterly confused. “You are certain it was palace guards who took the prince?”
“Garrin recognized them.”
Em’s gaze fell on a turned-over chair, her eyes growing wide. “Let us return to my room, where you can tell me what has happened.”
“I don’t know—”
Lex was about to say she wasn’t sure it was a good idea to show her face in the castle any longer, when the sound of heavy footsteps came from somewhere down the hall.
The soldiers might be farther away than she imagined. Or they could be right on top of them. “They can’t find me,” she said, her eyes pleading with Em’s, whom she hoped was truly on her side.
Em glanced at the door and her mouth puckered. “Guards and two alchemists. I can hear their robes brushing the stone floor. How unusual…”
“Alchemists? That’s what those monks are? Didn’t you say they’re Fae who understand magic better than anyone?”
“Among other things.” Em ushered Lex into Garrin’s bedroom.
Lex looked back. “Shouldn’t we leave before they get here? We’ll be trapped.”
“Not trapped—liberated.” Em pushed on a panel, and an invisible door opened to a hallway like the ones in the rest of the castle, with stone floors and arched ceilings, only narrower.
“What in the hell?” How did Em know about a secret chamber from Garrin’s bedroom?
She shook her head. Did she really want to know?
“Not hell, miss—a secret corridor. Come.” Em yanked on Lex’s arm, and they ran down the hallway. “Everyone knows of the passageways. We must hurry before they get here.”
“If that’s true”—Lex looked back—“what’s the purpose of using them?”
“Ages ago, they were used to pass secret messages and lovers.” Em slipped inside an empty room and pulled Lex in with her. She shut the door behind them.
“Lovers? Isn’t this a free-love castle? The king and prince have harems at their disposal.”
