The Chain (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #3)(93)

Helena nodded. “I couldn’t find the book I wanted, with all the portal magic inside, but I did manage to find something else,” she whispered, as the others leaned in to hear.

“What did you find?” Jari asked, instantly doe-eyed in her presence. No lie could suppress his adoration for the girl.

“I managed to find a portal to another haven,” she said softly.

They looked at her in surprise. The only reason Alex had contemplated traveling to other havens was to seek out more bottles of essence, but the renewed idea was pleasing to Alex’s ears. It could maybe lead them to an abandoned site where they might have a lot more time to think, unburdened by the pressure of being pursued or used for ulterior purposes. Besides, if the black bottles were in Alypia’s office, he knew he might need to find essence elsewhere.

“Which haven is it?” Alex asked, remembering the note with the names of the remaining four havens upon it: Falleaf House, Kingstone Keep, Spellshadow Manor, Stillwater House.

Helena shook her head. “I don’t know. I just know it’s a portal to somewhere else.”

“How do you know?” he pressed.

She sighed, narrowing her eyes at him. “You really do have endless questions, don’t you? I know because there is a still, unmoving image through a door in one of the rooms in the deepest part of the school—it looks out onto a castle courtyard. Now, I don’t know about you, but you don’t tend to find many castles sticking out of subterranean rooms, do you? So I’m guessing it’s a portal,” she remarked, flashing a look at Alex. “Nobody goes down there. It’s close to the derelict quarter, so people tend to keep away. There’s nothing much to see there, and I saw in a book that portals can often be found in that kind of location—isolated, quiet, mostly empty places.”

“Which book?” asked Alex.

“I don’t remember—look, time is ticking. We need to get going, if we’re going,” Helena said. It didn’t escape Alex’s notice that she was pointedly ignoring his question. “The longer we stay, the less chance we have of being successful,” she added.

“What do you think?” asked Alex, looking at the others. Helena had a very good point, echoing what Gaze had said about them needing to step their plans up if they were to have any hopes of leaving.

“I think it could be our best shot,” Jari said eagerly, jiggling in his seat. It was definitely the most proactive plan anyone had come up with so far.

“I think we need to get as far away from the Headmistress and this weird magic air as soon as possible,” Aamir agreed.

“There is something not right here—there is something that keeps distracting us.” Natalie nodded, though there was a touch of reluctance in her voice, quickly masked with a smile.

“I think we should give it a try,” Ellabell said.

Alex paused. “We should go sooner rather than later though, yeah?”

The group agreed wholeheartedly. There was no point in staying somewhere that had such bizarre control over them. Besides, who was to say the magic in the air wouldn’t try to make them forget their plans, if they stayed a while longer? They had to believe Gaze; they had to get out as fast as they could, before anything could stop them.

“Then we’re going,” Alex said, pleased with the conclusion.

Helena cleared her throat. “May I come with you?” she asked.

“You can come, if you take us to see the room with the portal in it,” he bargained.

Helena smirked. “I’m not an idiot, Alex. After all your talk of distrust, I don’t think I’ll be taking you there unless you truly promise to bring me with you.”

She had a point. Alex wasn’t happy with the idea of letting Alypia’s daughter follow along. It made him feel guilty, to be called out like that—to have his honor called into question. And yet she had been right to do it. His need to protect lay only with those who had come with him from Spellshadow; it did not fully extend to the silver-haired girl, but she couldn’t help her heritage.

“Then you’ll have to take us, and come with us,” he said quickly, before he could change his mind.

She grinned excitedly. “I’ll come and fetch you all at midnight, and lead you to the portal! You won’t regret this, I promise,” she whispered. “I’m sorry for not telling you about my mother, but I swear upon everything I hold dear that you can trust me.” A glimmer of emotion flashed in her gold eyes, letting Alex know he had done the right thing.

“Why do want you to leave?” said Jari suddenly.

She sighed. “It’s complicated… I don’t want to be a royal. I never wanted to be a royal. I want more from life than what I can expect if I stay—there are duties and expectations, and I don’t want any of them. I never asked for them, and I want the same choices and opportunities that I’ve heard people can have out in the real world,” she explained sadly. “That is what I long for—to be normal. No magic, no royalty, no title, no pressures. Just me.”

It was the most genuine Alex had ever seen her, with her soul bared and her expression vulnerable. There was a lifetime of hurt and remorse in her voice, but there was hope too—they were the hope. They had turned up at just the right moment for Helena to hold onto her dream. Without them, he wondered what her plan might have been.