An hour later, I was standing in front of Morgause’s castle again.
This time, I had come prepared.
New dress, bottle of wine, and the red set underneath my clothes.
Along with an amount of optimism any reasonable person would probably consider a medical condition.
Attempt number thirty-four was officially underway.
Orbit had split off from me shortly before we reached the castle. According to him, it looked slightly suspicious for one of Morgause’s generals to personally escort the woman who had spent thirty-three attempts trying to seduce her.
I didn’t understand the problem.
He did.
So I continued alone toward one of the castle’s side walls.
There was a narrow opening between two rock formations there. I had discovered it during attempt sixteen, and ever since then, it had become one of my favorite entrances.
Not because it was comfortable.
The first time I used it, I scraped both knees, tore a sleeve, and somehow ended up with a spider inside my cleavage.
But it came out fairly close to Morgause’s private chambers.
That compensated for a lot.
I approached the rocks and stopped.
Then looked again.
There was a wall.
A perfectly constructed wall.
New stone, fresh mortar, and even several reinforcement runes carved across the surface.
Morgause had sealed my shortcut.
I placed a hand over my chest.
“How cruel.”
I waited a few seconds, just in case she could somehow sense my disappointment from inside the castle.
Nothing.
I ran my fingers over one of the runes.
She hadn’t just sealed the entrance. She had made sure I couldn’t reopen it with magic either.
She had thought specifically about me.
That was almost romantic.
Almost.
Fortunately, I had also been thinking specifically about her.
I stepped back, circled around the rocks, and continued until I found a small bush growing against the outer wall.
I looked both ways.
No one.
I pushed the branches aside.
Behind them was a rusty metal grate.
I smiled.
Morgause had closed one entrance.
Orbit and I had prepared another.
We hadn’t exactly built it. Orbit had told me about the passage while we were preparing for attempt thirty-three. It was an old maintenance tunnel that had been abandoned for decades and, according to him, Her Majesty probably didn’t even remember it existed.
Part of it had collapsed and the entrance had been buried under dirt, but that was fairly easy to deal with when one person involved could move stone with magic and the other knew the castle’s old plans.
Naturally, the first thing we did was make sure it could still be used.
Just in case Morgause decided to close one of my other shortcuts.
Apparently, planning ahead had been the right decision.
Having a romantic advisor inside the castle was starting to become dangerously useful.
I lifted the grate and climbed inside.
The tunnel was narrow, dark, and smelled damp.
Definitely not the most dignified entrance for a future royal consort.
I would have to discuss that with Morgause after our wedding.
I moved forward, lighting the way with a small sphere of light above my palm. I had only gone a few yards when I found a piece of paper stuck to the wall.
I stopped.
I recognized the handwriting immediately.
Nellie:
If you’re reading this, Her Majesty sealed the other entrance.
Which means I was right.
I frowned.
That last part was unnecessary.
I kept reading.
Good luck with attempt thirty-four.
If you manage to kiss her, I want details.
If you manage anything beyond that, I need fewer details.
—Orbit
There was another line underneath.
P.S. If Her Majesty asks, this passage has always been here.
And below that:
P.P.S. I never met you.
I smiled.
At last, I had an advisor who understood the importance of supporting his clients.
I folded the note and put it away.
Maybe I would keep it.
It would be nice to show Orbit someday at my wedding.
Morgause would probably try to execute him.
That would also be nice.
I continued through the tunnel until I reached a small stone staircase.
According to Orbit, it should have taken me to an old service corridor in the western wing.
I climbed.
Pushed against the trapdoor.
It didn’t move.
I pushed harder.
Nothing.
“Come on…”
I used a little magic.
The trapdoor shot upward.
I heard a thump.
Then another.
Something fell to the floor.
I froze.
Waited.
No screaming.
Excellent start.
I poked my head through.
I wasn’t in a corridor.
It was a room.
A rather large one.
I climbed out carefully and lowered the trapdoor back into place.
Around me were shelves packed with books, old boxes, rolled-up maps, and display cases covered in a thin layer of dust. It didn’t look like a library anyone used often.
I didn’t recognize this part of the castle either.
Orbit had been wrong.
Or the castle had changed considerably since anyone last used that tunnel.
I looked toward the door.
I could leave and search for Morgause’s chambers.
That was what I was supposed to do.
I took one step.
Then I saw one of the paintings.
I stopped.
It was leaning against a shelf, half-hidden behind several boxes.
There was nothing particularly remarkable about it.
At least not until I recognized the red hair.
I moved closer.
It was Morgause.
Much younger.
She wasn’t wearing a crown.
She also didn’t have that expression that made it look as though she was permanently half a second away from ordering someone’s execution.
She was smiling.
Not a small, mocking smile.
Not the satisfied look she made right before throwing a fireball at me.
A real smile.
Open.
Happy.
I stared at her longer than necessary.
She was beautiful.
Well, she was still Morgause. That part was inevitable.
Then I noticed the people around her.
There were demons.
That was normal.
There were humans too.
Several of them.
One wore armor bearing the emblem of a kingdom I didn’t recognize. Another held a goblet. A human woman stood beside Morgause, close enough that their shoulders nearly touched.
They all looked like they were celebrating something.
I frowned.
It didn’t make sense.
Morgause hated humans.
That wasn’t an exaggeration.
I had seen her expression change just because a human ambassador was mentioned in conversation.
And yet there she was.
Surrounded by them.
Smiling.
I leaned closer for a better look.
There was an inscription along the bottom of the frame, but most of it had faded away.
I could only make out a date and a few words.
…first agreement…
That was all.
I reached toward the painting.
“Put that back where it was.”
My entire body froze.
I knew that voice.
Normally, hearing it that close made my mind produce thoughts that would have gotten me expelled from several religious institutions.
This time, it didn’t.
I turned slowly.
Morgause stood by the door.
There was no fire in her hands.
That should have reassured me.
It didn’t.
Her eyes were fixed on the painting.
Then they shifted to me.
“Morgause.”
“I told you to put it back.”
Her voice was low.
She wasn’t shouting.
She wasn’t red with embarrassment.
She didn’t look angry in the way she normally looked angry with me.
This was different.
I carefully picked up the painting and rested it against the shelf again.
“I didn’t know I’d end up here.”
“Of course you didn’t.”
Her gaze dropped to the floor.
Her eyes stopped directly on the trapdoor.
Ah.
“Another secret entrance?”
“Technically, it’s a maintenance passage.”
Morgause closed her eyes.
“I’m going to kill someone.”
I decided not to mention Orbit.
Yet.
I expected fire.
A threat.
Maybe for her to grab me and throw me out a window.
Under different circumstances, the second option had possibilities.
But Morgause looked back at the painting.
And for a moment, she seemed to forget I was even there.
That was stranger than any fireball.
I followed her gaze.
“I’ve never seen you smile like that.”
Her eyes hardened.
“That’s none of your business.”
I should have stopped.
For once, even I knew I should.
But there was something in that room that didn’t fit with the Morgause I knew.
“They were human.”
She didn’t answer.
“The people in the painting,” I continued. “They were human.”
“I know what they were.”
There was no anger in those words.
There was something worse.
Morgause stepped closer and took hold of the frame.
Her fingers tightened around the wood.
I completely forgot about the wine.
The red set.
Even attempt thirty-four.
“Who were they?” I asked.
Morgause stayed silent for so long that I thought she wouldn’t answer.
Finally, she raised her eyes to mine.
“The reason I learned never to trust humans.”