I Can't Eat Love

Part 18

Rig and I made our way silently along the secret passageway.

The space which had seemed so large when I was a child was now just barely wide enough to allow an adult to walk sideways. I heard a light scuffle in the distance, and wondered if we would see rats within the walls. I shuddered, thinking of the last time I had been here.

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"I hope there isn't rats." I muttered, trying not to breath too much of the dust that was kicked up by my passage. Rig had taught me to walk silently, leaving barely any trace of my passing, but I was too weak to manage it.

It felt like the final betrayal. Not only was I the last survivor of his group, but I couldn't even carry on his legacy.

Useless. I chided myself silently.

I was tired, hungry, wishing desperately to sleep, but I kept moving forward, hoping desperately no one would notice the sound within the walls.

I had to find the Queen.

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"Lenora!" Rig whispered in my ear. I started, realizing with a shock that I had stopped moving, too caught in my memory of this passageway. Waving a hand to show I was fine, I moved forward once again, navigating the turns that would lead to the secret room next to the King and Queen's suites

Rig didn't look convinced at my silent reassurance, but followed along without further complaint. Finally we came to a slightly more open space, at least enough for us to sit on the floor side by side. I motioned to the small peep holes, and Rig took a look in one of them. Sitting back with an astonished expression, he leaned over to speak as quietly as possible.

"I can't believe you got us here! How could you...?"

"An escape tunnel, for the royal family, long forgotten. The Queen only discovered it by reading old journals. She took me back here... a long time ago."

"I can't believe she trusted you with this..." He looked at me closely. "I thought you told me the Queen  was just keeping up appearances, and didn't really care about you?" Glancing at the unused passage around us, he murmured. "Doesn't seem like it to me."

"I don't want to talk about it." I stared through the peephole, watching the empty room.

"Of course not." He muttered, settling in down next to me to wait.

Fortunately we didn't have long to wait. Only a brief amount of time had passed before the king entered the room. Even alone, in a casual robe, a stranger would have recognized him as a king. He had a presence, a sense of power, control around him.

He scared me.

Sitting in a chair next to the fireplace, he sipped on a drink, motioning towards the door, likely instructing the servant there. He waited patiently, watching the fire and drinking, while we spied behind the wall, barely daring to breathe so we wouldn't be discovered.

"Father," Ronan stepped in the room, looking unsure for the first time I had ever seen in two lifetimes. "What did you call me about?"

The king smiled, the expression making me nervous at the clear anger concealed within. "I wanted to talk to you about the... interesting... decision you made at your birthday party."

Ronan chuckled at that, clearly thinking that his father's smile was genuine. "Oh that. Well, I didn't think you'd mind. I mean... Lenora's so boring! There's no way she would make a good queen anyways. I think you'll really like the woman I've chosen instead, this young lady named Edith..."