Cursed be the Crown by RAE STAPLETON

Author:RAE STAPLETON [STAPLETON, RAE]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-10-01T05:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-TWO

I could smell his musty cologne of fire and woodchips closing in on me, and I willed myself to run faster. He grabbed my wrist, and I let out a small scream.

“Sapphira, calm down.” He gripped my arm, pulling me tight. “Why are you running from me?”

“How did you know about the passageway?” I stuttered, pulling away.

He looked straight at me, and I knew he saw the fear in my eyes. As if reading my thoughts, he loosened his grip and apologized.

“I didn’t know! I was worried waiting around, doing nothing while you took all the risks, and so I came looking for you.”

I looked him over slowly, observing the hollows under his eyes and the stubble that grazed his cheeks.

“When I arrived at my cousins after returning you here, I heard Henri had been scouring the town for you. He’d been seen with Giuseppe and Jean Trenca—known members of the Carbonari. That bothered me, so this morning I went to find your friend Rochus, but his neighbor said he was arrested more than a week ago. I knew something was wrong. I headed to the palace where Lisabetta recognized me on the main road. She told me you and your mother were locked away, warned me about the soldiers and told me how to get in, avoiding the main gate. I had to wait two hours for a shift change.”

“You’re wet.”

“I know,” he said, letting go. “I was lurking in the bushes, hiding from Henri’s men. I was trying to find the staircase Lisabetta told me of. One of the men was practically on top of me when I noticed an opening underneath the mote. I figured I could squeeze through it, so I took a risk and slipped into the water.”

That did seem plausible. I relaxed and began feeling the stones along the wall.

“What are you doing?” Conrad asked.

“Help me find the stone with the lever. I think there’s a secret room in here. We can light the fireplace, and you can finish your story and warm up.”

“There’s a secret room?” said Conrad.

“The castle is full of them.”

“So, it seems,” Conrad agreed.

I continued feeling for the lever as I’d seen Sapphira’s brother do in my vision. Finally, I found something and pulled. The wall retracted with a dragging sound. Smiling at my luck, I stepped into a dark room full of shadows.

With a name like the royal treasure trove, I expected to be dazzled by the bright sheen of gold, but pitch black loomed. Going on memory, I fumbled until I found a lantern.

The room smelled of dust. Of course, there were no windows because we were underground.

“It’s so damp,” I said, wandering around the room with the lantern to light the other candles.

Conrad took the hint and headed straight for the fireplace, narrowly missing a case that sat in the center of the room.

“There is furniture down here. How did you know about this place?” asked Conrad, lighting the fire.

“Sapphira’s diary had a map. I also dreamed about this place this afternoon.

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