Rasnake(27)

When Milton was gone, he followed Cecil from the great hall, through the maze-like castle the chapel. "So where is it? We were planning to look for it tonight."

"You could have asked for my help," Cecil said.

"You were barely speaking to us," Tallant replied. "There is also the fact that no one was taking our suggestions of Marden seriously."

Cecil said nothing, only strode through the chapel all the way to the altar. Moving to the high, marble topped altar itself, he grasper the marble top and shoved. To Tallant's astonishment, the top moved neatly forward, obviously mounted on some sort of mechanism. Drawing close, he peered over the edge, and saw a ladder.

"It goes down pretty far, to a narrow tunnel. It runs beneath the moat, I think. Coming?" He leapt neatly onto the edge of the altar, swung onto the ladder, then vanished into the shadows.

Rolling his eyes, Tallant summoned a mage light, then followed Cecil down into the damp, musty dark of the secret passage out of the castle.

His foot struck something, and Tallant redirected his mage light lower to the ground in order to locate it. A shoe—a dancing slipper. He gingerly picked it up, and examined the dirt and blood that covered it. "I wonder why he puts them in their formal clothes," Tallant said. "What purpose would that serve?"

"I'm sure it makes sense to His Grace," Cecil replied. "For my part, I'd just as soon prefer not to comprehend the workings of a lunatic mind."

"A good point," Tallant said, and dropped the shoe again. Brushing his hands off, he restored his mage light to its proper height. "Let's continue. Where does this come out?"

"The forest," Cecil replied, and resumed walking. They continued on for several more minutes, and Tallant silently marveled at the labor involved in building such a long, deep tunnel. Eventually, they emerged to fading sunlight; the setting sun bled orange, red, and yellow through the dense foliage of the forest.

High boulders surrounded them, and Tallant could hear the running of a creek. A cropping of rocks, and the space between them limited—it was little wonder no one had ever come across the secret passage. Tallant climbed up onto the rocks, and looked around, realizing he knew where they were. "This isn't far from the wards, but it's a good distance from the castle. An escape tunnel in case of siege, I would imagine. The escapees could flee here, and travel close to the wards until they reached safety." Cecil nodded in re ply. "How in the world did you find it?"

"The castle has been added on to, rebuilt, and otherwise altered over the decades," Cecil said. "Of the original structure, only the great hall, the solar, the chapel, and the barracks remain. I knew if Henry's stories were true, then the secret passage would be in one of those rooms. They wouldn't put it in the great hall or the solar, or in the barracks. It would be far too easy for just anyone to find or stumble across."

Tallant smiled. "They needed a safe, secure place over which a trusted person could always watch without seeming to watch. The chapel."

Cecil nodded. "Yes. So I explored the chapel until I found it."

"You never told anyone?"

"I told Irene," Cecil replied. "She elected to keep it between the two of us. We didn't want anyone messing around and breaking their fool necks, or sneaking out after curfew."

"Wise call," Tallant said. He looked out over the landscape. "So he dragged the girls out here, then to the wards. The first two got away from him, and tried to get home. They probably didn't have their bearing at all, poor things. The third girl he drugged."

Cecil nodded again, and kicked at the ground, one hand curling around the hilt of one sword. "We need to drug him and get into that other secret passage. Hopefully it will lead us to the women."

"I hope so," Tallant agreed. "Shall we head back?" In reply, Cecil simply turned and vanished back into the tunnel. Shaking his head in amusement, Tallant followed him, calling up another mage light to beat back the darkness of the tunnel.





Chapter Ten





Cecil was waiting for them at the base of the tower, leaning against the wall, arms folded across his chest, braids falling in his face. His wolves were curled up at his feet, and he really was the most breathtaking man Tallant had ever seen.

The wolves stirred, seeing them, and Cecil looked up. He pushed way from the wall as they reached him. "I checked on him earlier, shortly after I gave him his nightly glass of wine. He is dead to the world, and should stay that way well into morning."

"Good," Milton replied. "Tallant."

Moving to the door, Tallant used his magic to unlock it.

Cecil grimaced, "I really hope Morden does not know that trick."

"If he did, he'd have little use for secret passages," Tallant replied. "It's not a trick taught in any book, thankfully." He pulled the door open and looked at Milton, who motioned for him to take the lead. Nodding, Tallant took the stairs quickly, though not so fast he would be taken unexpected should someone or something attack.

When he reached the landing, he opened the second door. He heard the others coming, and moved to get out of the way—but stopped in surprise as Bite suddenly came up and pushed inside the tower room.

After a moment, Bite returned to the door and gave a soft chuff. Taking that for an all clear, Tallant pushed the door open and slipped inside. The others followed quickly, and Milton shut the door behind them.