Page 61 of A Kingdom of Shadows

A little squeak comes from the ground, and as we glance down, we stare at what had been hiding in my hood.

A Tibithian.

One exactly like Tibith but with fluorescent green fur—likely from the phosphorous—and slimmer in width size.

It blinks, tilting its head from side to side.

A chuckling breath escapes me. It must have followed us in here, or better yet, I think it's the tiny thing I'd felt crawling around my leg before.

As Darius lets go of me, I kneel, stroking the Tibithian's silky fur. He purrs against my hand and closes his eyes in comfort, which is the most endearing sight.

"He's a male," Darius says.

I glance up at him, frowning in question as he points back at the Tibithian.

"See the feathers at the top of his head?"

When I look, the Tibithian has the same feathers that Tibith has whenever he gets excited or frightened spreading across his head.

"Only the male species have them."

My nose scrunches with a smile, and I whisper, "Tibith would love you."

"Almost as much as he loves bread," Darius says, chuckling as he crouches beside me and runs his knuckles along the Tibithian's neck.

We glance at each other as he holds my gaze for seconds, perhaps minutes.

For a fleeting moment, I'm filled with something that brings back that homely feeling, but a rumble disturbs us, reminding me what we should be doing. We both stand up, looking further down the cave. The Tibithian squeaks, waddling before us and growling at the never-ending tunnel.

Darius and I glance at one another before we go on. The Tibithian stays beside me, cooing and clinging onto my leg at points. Darius mentions how fond he seems of me, to which I laugh at. I'd gotten that phrase a lot throughout my upbringing. It is funny how it hasn't changed.

Opting for luck, we turn a corner straight into another, stopping short as we spot another much larger, almost square-shaped opening.

My eyes drag up to symbols of a weighing scale indented into the ice above the entrance.

Weighing scales could mean many things. Good and bad, truth and lie, life and death.

Perhaps this is part of the puzzle.

A heavy drop in my stomach has me hoping we come out of this with the stone in our hands. Another has me wondering if my amount of Terranos history reading at the castle library was enough.

I press my hand against the side wall and lean in to look. I see stalactites hanging from the ceilings, dreadfully dangerous and obstructing most of my view.

"Ladies first," Darius says when I turn to him.

My brow quirks. "Ever the gentleman."

He chuckles, and I hate that I've come to adore that sound so much. "You know I always am," he says, dramatically stretching his hand out for me to proceed.

I roll my eyes with the Tibithian still clinging to my side and walk inside. For the shortest second, there is, I'm struck by the grand view. A long bridge on my left extends to a circular platform of pure ice. The surrounding area is a pitch-black void that, if I am to drop a coin, I doubt I'll ever hear it land on the ground.

The hairs on my skin rise at the thought, and as I take another step, a sudden sharp sound like swords being drawn out slices through the air. I whirl, and it's too late as a wall of ice separates Darius from me.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Panic seeps into my bones as I bang my hands on the wall. "Darius!"

He responds with my name, and I run my palms along the ice, searching for a way out or an alternative perhaps that will break the wall.

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