Mylo interrupted my thoughts. “Well, I did not see that coming.” He waved at the book. “Would you rather read or go on a tour?”
“Tour.” I did not even hesitate. “I would love to see more of the castle. Let me put this down.”
Mylo led me down several corridors and spiraled staircases I recognized from my first time on them, and then down several more until we came to a large indoor courtyard I hadn’t been to before. The walls surrounding us divided into eight different corridors. He waved toward three of them. “Those paths will take you outside, but as it’s still cold and dark, I suggest we don’t start there.”
He ignored the hall that we came from and pointed at the next nearest tunnel to us, marked with a rose over the arching corridor. “That takes you down into the lower stone levels, so we won’t go there either.” Finally he gestured at the last three corridors. “These go to different parts of the castle. Do you have a preference?”
I studied each corridor. They were all made from stone, which made the name of the “lower stone levels” confusing, but I could ask about that later. From our vantage point, I couldn’t see anything different in the three tunnels, besides a different flower carved into the stone above each entrance. Maybe Mylo could suggest a starting point. I turned from the tunnels to him at the same time a soldier burst out of oneof the paths that led outside.
“Captain!” the new soldier shouted. “We have a situation in the stables!”
I turned away to give them a semblance of privacy when a flicker of light caught my attention.
Not light. Magic.
The only fae-like power I possessed was the ability to see other magic and, like my mother’s magic had flickered in front of me when I first saw the drekkan king, fae magic now flashed at me from the hall that led to the lower levels.
The only levels I’d been forbidden.
But that fae magic was the best hint I’d had about Motab in thirteen years. And what if it didn’t linger? What if it only flickered for a few seconds? What if my mother was in some dungeon or hidden room down there? What if this was my only chance to find her?
I’d have to ask Mylo to take me. I’d plead. I’d even beg. This—
“—the fae.”
I spun toward Mylo and the soldier he’d been talking with. I’d been so distracted with the magic I’d seen that I hadn’t realized they were discussing me. I raised my brows, curious at what I’d missed.
“I’m so sorry, Callista,” Mylo said. “I need to go help with this. Will you go back to your room? I’ll come get you as soon as I can and show you the castle.”
I nodded slowly. Maybe this would work out better. I wouldn’t have to ask Mylo to betray his king. And Iwouldgo back to the room—right after I found out why fae magic was coming from the lower levels.
Mylo dipped his head. “Thank you, Callista.” He pointed toward my room, and a line of light raced from his hand across the ceiling of the corridor for as far as I could see. I assumed it went all the way up to my room. I started walking back, but when I heard their boots disappear down another tunnel, I turned around.
I paused in the courtyard, scanned each dark corridor for other elves, and then turned into the tunnel with fae magic flickering through its halls. The magic carried an iridescent pink hue that fizzled into purples and blues as it pulsed from deeper down the corridor. No lights, no lanterns, and no torches lit this hall, but… why would they? We were in a land where elves could summon light at will.
The fae magic provided enough light for me to see the stone hall. I wanted to run, but I did not want to slip and twist an ankle, so I just walked, following the pinks and purples and blues ahead of me.
The tunnel twisted and then dropped into a spiral staircase. I followed the pink light down the stairs… down, down, down. At least a hundred feet down. And the stairs kept coming.
The air shifted from the cool, magic-moderated temperatures above to a moist coldness that made me think I’d entered an underground cave.
The stairs finally ended and a stone tunnel, much smaller than the tunnels above, led me forward until it branched into four different paths. Only one of the options had the fae magic that I saw as a pink light, so I walked into it.
I sped up. This small diversion was taking much longer than I’d expected. It made me anxious. I didn’t want to lie to Mylo, or get him into trouble. If the king discovered I’d broken his one rule—I didn’t want to think about the consequences. My new freedom would certainly disappear, and thatwas a terrifying thought.
After a few more minutes, the tunnel widened, dramatically. Instead of wet stone lining the walls, layers of roots framed the corridor. Pink magic emanated lightly from every root. I reached out and touched one. It wasn’t exactly my mother’s magic, but it was definitely fae. It had a vibration like my mother's and Alastor’s that was completely different than all the elves' magic that I’d seen since I’d come.
Why would roots leak fae magic?
The answer had to be at the source of the light I’d been following. It had intensified, as if I was getting closer to its source.
I started walking again.
The tunnel twisted a few more times, and then opened up into an enormous cavern, easily a hundred feet tall and at least that wide. In the center, on a raised mound, a gorgeous rose bush grew in the shape of weeping willow tree. Hundreds of blossoms lighted its branches and glowed in the same pink fae magic I’d been following.
It was the rose bush.
The magic came from the plant.
