Page 36 of Bearly Free (The Emerald Realm 2)

I nodded, as we stacked the last of the documents. “You’re right, but I think I have a better idea for a hiding spot.” I passed through the door into his bedchamber, directed straight for his wardrobe.

“Give me a hand.” I motioned for him to assist me in moving the piece of furniture away from the wall. Once he aided me, the cedar fixture moved with ease. I ran my finger along the back panel of the wood, searching for the familiar indention that my matching wardrobe had at home. Before long, my finger grazed the light circular impression and I pushed down hard.

Within an instant, the back panel loosed from its place and allowed me to remove it altogether. A slender hidden compartment revealed itself, expanding across the entire height of the wardrobe. A sly smile passed my face as Elias gaped in awe.

“I never knew it could do that,” he awed.

“Most buyers don’t,” I explained while shoving my frame into the opening. “My grandfather actually designed this wardrobe. He showed me how to access the hidden compartment when I was little and how to find hidden sections in other woodworks. It has come in handy lately.” A small laugh escaped my lips as Elias repositioned the cedar backing.

“Hold on.” He paused. “Are you sure you’ll be alright in here? It isn’t well ventilated, and it is quite tight.” He eyed the cramped space with concern.

“I’ll be fine.” I smiled in reassurance. “It won’t be for long, and it’s the best spot we’ve got.”

Reluctantly, Elias nodded then reached for my hand. “I’ll be back for you as soon as I can.” He placed a light kiss on the top of my hand, and a rush of butterflies filled me at the touch.

He gave me one last worried look before he sealed me inside the wardrobe, and pushed it back against the wall.

chapter nineteen

Elias had been right about the compartment—it was far too tight. Between my sore ankle, smashed arms, and awkward sitting position, it wasn’t long before my entire body was screaming at me. I attempted to adjust my stance a few times, but the confined walls made it impossible to do more than shimmy my arms. My shoulders were slightly wider than the depth of the opening, so I was forced to shift my right side forward. This left my torso at a diagonal angle and my spine a twisted wreck.

He had been right about the ventilation as well. The wardrobe was suffocating. There were no openings for air flow, and within minutes, it became terribly hot and stuffy. I could only hope that the hunter’s visit would end before I ran out of circulating oxygen. Sweat beaded across my forehead as I focused on keeping my breaths calm. I had never been claustrophobic before, but this might have been the exception. Every muscle in my body was burning to break free of their constrictions, but there was no use in even trying. The panel only opened from the outside and the wardrobe was braced against the wall. I would just have to wait for Elias.

The enveloping heat threatened to make me faint, so I decided to help it along by falling asleep. I hadn’t slept at all last night, so it wasn’t too difficult to let my body drift away. I dozed in and out of consciousness, encouraging my body to sleep away the discomfort for as long as possible. The pain in my cramped limbs only got worse every time I roused. I tried to force my mind back adrift, hoping the sleep would slow my breathing enough to help savor the dwindling air. A few times when I awoke, I would hear voices grow more and more clear. It wasn’t long before I heard the door to the bed chamber swing open.

At first, I hoped that it was only Elias, and that he had come to let me out. However, the following voices were not ones I could reveal myself to.

“I assure you, Mr. Colburn, my son would know if someone was hiding in his bed chamber.” Lady Jenna’s shrill voice pierced through the quiet room.

“Madame, I don’t doubt that your son would know such a thing,” Mr. Colburn rasped back in a tired grumble. “My suspicion is that your son has been harboring the young lady intentionally.”

A dramatic gasp sounded from the lady. “He would never! Why, I’ll go ask him this instant and then you’ll see!” A few stomping footsteps moved out of the room, but were quickly halted.

“Dear,” Lord Oberon spoke this time and my stomach soured at his voice, “let the man do his job first. We know our son, so there shouldn’t be any trouble with him searching Elias’s chamber.” He said Elias’s name with a hint of cynicism. Anger bubbled up in me as I recognized the distrust in his words.

He was one to talk. He had no right to be skeptical of his adoptive son after all the lies he’s upheld. My body urged me to kick in frustration, but I couldn’t even if I tried.

No further protests escaped the mistress as shuffling sounded throughout the room. For once, not even the slightest twinge of nerves unsettled me. I was confident in my hiding place. Even if the hunter was clever enough to move the wardrobe, he would never find the hidden button without prior knowledge of its existence. All I needed to do was remain quiet.

That wasn’t necessarily an easy task, considering how bored I had become. In the midst of the search, I fell back into an uneasy slumber. Frustrated growls and remarks occasionally reached my ears as I drifted, and the wardrobe even shook from an interior inspection. I couldn’t tell if my nap was short or the search was long because it felt like hours before the scuffling finally concluded.

“I told you,” Lady Jenna spouted proudly. “Our son would never hide a convict within his own room. How preposterous of a claim! Elias would never try to smuggle a criminal! In fact, it’s so unreasonable that I—”

“That’s enough, dear.” Lord Oberon silenced her, he sounding much more stressed than his normal collected temperament. “Thank you for making certain that our home is safe. I’ll direct you to the guest rooms now.” A touch of incredulity hummed through his tone.Had he expected Elias to be harboring me?

The trio exited the room in silence, with only the sound of a clicking door to confirm their exit. My thoughts whirled around as I evaluated Lady Jenna’s words. She had always been one for dramatics, but something was off just now… She seemed a little too energetic to defend her son. So much so, that her husband had to cut her off. I chewed my lip as I mulled over my theories. Only one made sense.

The lord and lady had been hoping to find me here. It had to be. Everything would have aligned so perfectly if they had. If Elias was caught smuggling a wanted noble, then they could easily frame him for any of their crimes.Their crimes… Them.

So, Lady Jenna was a part of the smuggling, too. Or at least, she was aware of its existence. She would have to be if she was vouching for her son’s innocence so strongly. It would only make her look more uninvolved if she was oblivious from the start. I suppose it only made sense. Why else would she have adopted a beggar?

My heart ached for Elias. How awful it must be to have discovered that his so-called family only used him as an escape route. A surge of unease disturbed my thoughts.

If Elias was caught hiding me, his parents would have the ability to blackmail him. They could easily turn the entire scandal around on him if he tried to turn them in. It would be all too simple. The earliest documentation of their work was dated ten years ago—the year Elias joined the family. His father is a trusted judge who lacks favor with mages, and he would be considered unlikely to employ them. Elias also had a history of stealing, avoiding polite society, and then throw in the crime of harboring a wanted noble... They would have his case tied up with a neat little bow faster than the banished Queen Minerva.

My breathing grew shallow as the suffocating air seemed to thicken. I couldn’t let that happen to him. Elias deserved his freedom more than anyone else in the blasted house, me included. Ever since I arrived, he only wanted to do the right thing. He wanted nothing more than to be grateful for what he had, and to express that sentiment to those around him. But the ones he was most grateful for had lied to him. They used him, and intended to repay his gratitude with a choice.

Follow their legacy as an illicit smuggler or spend his life in jail for their crimes.

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