Chapter 166 - Not-So-Quiet Corridors

AYLETH

The time had come to stop acting like a Princess, and become the woman she was. This was not about Kingdoms or political power. Not even about lies.

This was about the heart of a man and a woman and what happened in the secrets of their sacred lives. Nothing else mattered.

She didn't even question herself, but hurried to the closet in the corner and pulled out a set of fighting leathers. Hardly the appropriate attire for an Heir in the middle of the night. But they would make her less noticeable as a lady and royal. Of course, if she was discovered, they would also reveal her subterfuge. It was rather difficult in her position to deny that the clothing was function and designed to turn away eyes from her true identity. But she decided it was worth the risk. The leathers were dark and would help her blend into shadows. Not to mention, protect herself if it was needed. Though she prayed this trip to the other end of the castle would be uneventful. She desired nothing other than to find her husband and ask him to answer for this… this… betrayal!

She dressed quickly and twisted her hair into a bun to hide as much of it as possible, pinning it awkwardly because she wasn't accustomed to doing so by herself. Perhaps she should have chosen the braid. But it made her distinctive hair so much more noticeable. 

She shook her head. There was no time for doubt tonight. It was the small hours of the morning already. After the historic day, the nobles were all either drunk, or asleep. Either of which suited her purpose. So long as they weren't paying attention to who was creeping through the halls, she couldn't give a flying fuck what they were doing.

Swallowing the pinch of tears in her throat, Ayleth made herself blink and focus. There was little time, and she couldn't risk being discovered and returned to her parents like a puppy that had soiled the room. Her mother would know. 

She had to use every skill in her arsenal to slip through the castle quietly and find him, confront him. Pray he was alone in his bed…

That thought stopped her in her tracks, pain ricocheting through her chest. He couldn't… he wouldn't have… 

Would he?

Ayleth sucked in a breath and pushed the ugly, terrifying thoughts away. She couldn't speculate. Couldn't allow herself to fall into that trap. She would find Etan, and she would deal with whatever she found there. 

The next question was, which route to take? She had two options—the secret passage in her sitting room had a corridor that would take her deeper into the castle without being under anyone's eyes. But her choices from there to reach Etan were extremely limited. While scaling the wall outside offered far more options to avoid notice, but also, probably more eyes that weren't Falek's. He'd positioned a dozen guards in the gardens ever since he'd learned of her adventures before. 

Had it been long enough for them to have relaxed their vigil in looking for her?

Likely not.

The hidden passage it was. 

She nodded once, but her hands were shaking as she reached for the handle of her bedchamber door, listening intently to reassure herself that the guards had been posted at the door of her chambers into the hallway, then opening it slowly so it wouldn't creak, and tip-toeing across the room to the tapestry, behind which the door was hidden.

When she opened it in the dark—her skin crawling because she couldn't afford to bring a lamp and the hidden passages were midnight black. With only small spaces that allowed light through from the rooms they passed behind, there were spaces she would have to move by feel. And the Spiders…

She shuddered, but pulled the door open determinedly. She froze for a second, half expecting Falek or Borsche to leap out at her since the men always seemed to know exactly what she and Etan were thinking. But to her relief, it was empty. She would only have to avoid the guards patrolling the corridors of the castle once she was out of the hidden passage. 

Praise the Goddess for that.

Taking a deep, shaking breath, she pulled the door closed behind her so no one who entered her chamber would discover where she had gone, and turned, feeling her way along the stone wall that turned quickly and dropped first below the bedchambers alongside hers, then climbed back up, branching. One corridor led to an exit in a little-used parlor a few doors down the hallway. The other would keep her hidden longer, but took her to a much busier part of the castle where it connected with a servant's hallway. It was designed for a quick getaway in the event of an attack on the castle, not for secret exits.

She stood at the intersection, considering her options. The hidden route was far more likely to bring her in contact with servants—servants who were far more likely not to overlook her because of her plain clothing. Who would look her in the eye until they realized who she was. Where the nobles would usually allow their eyes to pass over any servant or lower citizen…

Yes.

She was better to walk through the halls in the guise of a noble's spy, than to allow the servants to get a close look at her.

Nodding, she turned up the corridor that let her out into the parlor—empty and dark, but portions lit by cold, gray rectangles of moonlight that fell over fanciful lounges and sparklingly clean tables.

Hurrying through the space, she put her ear to the door to listen for footsteps in the corridor outside. But because this was not a bedchamber, it was not guarded, and she could hear no steps approaching.

With a sigh of relief, she eased the door open and slipped out, keeping her back to the hall so she could close the door quietly, then finally turning to walk—to find Falek leaning against the wall directly across from the door.