Roderick waited patiently by her side while she chewed on her lower lip and tried to figure out which way to go. She was paralyzed by indecision. He must have sensed that for he gripped her by the shoulders, turning her to face him.
“Hey,” he said and gave her a reassuring grin. “Don’t second guess yourself. Listen to your gut.”
She took a deep breath, nodded. “I think we should go this way.”
She motioned down the hallway behind him. He took her by the hand and led her down the hall.
“My dagger is missing,” she said.
“Mine, too. I’m sure Seraphina is happy to have both weapons at her disposal.” His tone was laced with annoyance and agitation.
He didn’t mention they were both enchanted blades. He didn’t have to. One had been created for the sole purpose of cutting out her heart. She was aware the queen had obtained their greatest weapons.
Or had she? She and Roderick both had elemental magic. Perhaps there was a way to leverage it, though she wasn’t sure how. Yet.
The corridor ended with only one way to go—right—so they followed that down to the next turn to the left. None of this seemed familiar to her and she wasn’t sure where they were in the castle. It appeared to be a maze of twists and turns. There were no doors in the hallways. Only torches in brackets every few feet.
“Anything familiar?” he asked.
“Not yet,” she said.
“It’ll come to you.” He sounded so certain she wanted to believe him.
Another turn and they found themselves in the great hall. A long wooden table that seated twenty was in the middle, chairs on either side. The enormous hearth on one end was dormant. Nothing but gray ashes.
Once there were tapestries along the walls and portraits high above in the gallery. All of that was gone now. Seraphina had them removed at some point. Her family history was removed, as though she had tried to erase them.
“You ok?” he asked.
She pointed toward the gallery. “There were family portraits there. Oil paintings of my parents and grandparents.”
He looked upward to the area devoid of decoration. Then he gave her a sympathetic glance. “Perhaps she didn’t destroy them.”
It was almost as though he heard her thoughts. She shoved that away to deal with later.
“I think she’d hide the mirror in her bedchamber,” she said. “Follow me.”
Releasing his hand, she took off through the great hall, heading for the doorway. On the other side was a curved stone staircase leading upward to the north tower. As she hurried through the castle, a sense of foreboding filling her, she wondered where the servants and guards were. Surely, Seraphina would not leave the halls and corridors unguarded?
She would if she were planning a trap.
Snow’s heart thundered in her chest as she exited the great hall. She paused only for a moment at the foot of the stone staircase, then, taking a deep breath, she ascended. Her legs burned with agony as she hurried up the narrow steps trying to keep her footfalls as quiet as possible. Roderick was right behind her, keeping close.
At the top of the stairs, with her chest heaving and her heart pounding, she paused a moment to catch her breath. Roderick moved to stand next to her, waiting for her to make her next move. He didn’t question her or ask if she knew where she was going. He merely waited. She gave him a glance.
There was something in his eyes that told her he trusted her. That he believed in her. That he wanted her to succeed. And something else. Regret? Sorrow? She didn’t know.
“It’s this way,” she pointed to the left.
As she started to go, he grasped her by the hand and pulled her to a stop. “Snow, there’s something I need to tell you.”
She turned back to him. “What is it?”
“When the queen summoned me here and demanded I kill you, she tricked me into drinking a slow-acting poison.”
Snow gasped. “Poison?”
“If I failed to do her bidding—”
