My thoughts churned as she continued to lead me. At one point she stopped before a wall. I turned my head left and right. “What’s this?”
“I really shouldn’t be showing you this, but since we’re sharing so much, this palace is full of hidden passageways. I hear all manner of things I shouldn’t.” She paused and the back of my neck tickled.
“You eavesdrop?”
“It’s about the only thing that keeps me from dying of boredom.”
I pressed a hand to the wall, skimming my palm over the ancient stone. “What about ways out of the palace?”
“Who would want to leave the castle? It’s dangerous out there.”
It’s dangerous in here, too. “Come, now. I want to know all the ins and outs of my new home.” I cringed at this last bit. This place did not feel like home. Nor would it ever.
“Well, this castle has been around forever. Back in the old days, it was important to have a means of escape in the event of an attack. Not that this castle had ever been successfully invaded, to my knowledge at least.”
“So there is a secret way out?”
“Yes. Through the kitchens. A rug covers the floor of the larger storage room, but underneath it there’s a door.”
My heart hammered with excitement. I tried to control my features lest too much emotion give me away. “An escape hatch . . . that does sound intriguing.”
Riana sighed. “It’s just a smelly tunnel.”
A tunnel out of here.
Her hand found some hidden spot and pushed. The wall opened up to a passageway. “Come. Whisper only. Voices carry far in these hidden tunnels.” The sound of her words vibrated against her fingertips. “We don’t want to be caught. Tebald doesn’t think this suitable for a lady’s sensibilities.”
“What?” I demanded as we made our way through the winding, narrow space. Another round of cheers sounded. This time much closer, louder. The origin was just beyond us. Riana stopped and pushed at the tunnel wall, opening yet another door.
She led the way out into a larger space where the air flowed freely. “Keep your voice down. You must not alert them that we’re watching.” I nodded, curious. “Get down on your knees,” Riana instructed. “Torches line the pit. Not many, mind you. Just enough so that spectators can see clearly. Go on. Down with you. It’s just a ledge really, but it’s perfect for spying. You mustn’t stand or they could look up and spot us.”
She pushed down on my shoulder, and I obliged, feeling her body lower beside me as well. The din grew, flooding us as we crawled out onto the balcony. I pulled at my skirts to keep them from getting caught beneath me. I smelled the oil-fed fire from torches stuck in sconces sporadically around the ledge. The flames snapped in the air.
We stretched out, lying flat on our stomachs. Overlapping voices congested the air. Bring on the next one! More, more!
“What’s happening?” I stretched my neck, angling my head to listen better, to try to process what was happening far below us.
“Look right there. Do you see the man?”
I feigned as though I could see, relying on my ears and that additional sense buried deep inside my gut. “What is he doing?” It seemed a safe question to glean the necessary information—any information at all, really.
Her voice squeaked with excitement. “Oh, they’re opening the gates now.”
I did in fact hear the faint grind of metal as the gate lifted and locked into place.
“Now it’s about to get fun,” she breathed beside me. Just as I was beginning to conclude that her definition of fun and mine did not align, I heard it.
I gasped as a shrill dweller’s cry warbled on the air, and I started to scurry backward on my stomach until she clamped a surprisingly firm grip on my arm, keeping me from fleeing the ledge.
“W-What—” Fear choked the words from me. Already this place had lulled me into false complacency.
I had almost committed myself to the belief that I was safe. That no dweller could penetrate these walls. Court life had made me weak even in so short a time. How could I have forgotten? This was the world. It has not changed simply because I’d ducked behind these thick walls.
A second dweller answered the call of the first and my skin jumped, rippling to gooseflesh. I felt them prowling below, their sensors vibrating on the air, acclimating to and learning this new environment just as I was. They moved with slow, dragging steps. Even slower than usual.
Over a dozen voices lifted in a cheer. I listened, trying to sift through their words. No one was scared or alarmed. They were jubilant, excited at the arrival of these two dwellers. I heard someone calling for bets, and a flurry of masculine voices responded with their wagers.
And there was the man. He was there in the pit with them, his feet scampering wildly over the circular space, trying to stay out of their reach. His voice lifted over all the cheers and shouts, screaming, pleading. His fear saturated the air, as thick as the loamy odor of the dwellers.
“What’s going to happen?”