Page 62 of The Broken Elf King
ELEVEN
It was a several-hour horseback ride back to the castle. When we reached the stables, Cahal ushered me to a stall in the back.
“Where are we going?” I asked him. This was not the way out of the barn. He put his finger to his lips. Voices could be heard outside the barn and I nodded.
Bending down to the ground, he reached out and began to wipe away hay on the floor. In doing so, he exposed a trapdoor.
“Cool,” I whispered, and Cahal winked. Pulling the door back, he gestured that I go first. There were wooden steps and a faint orange glow beneath. Sucking up my fear of enclosed spaces, I descended the steps and reached level ground as Cahal shut the trapdoor and then met me. We were in a brick-walled tunnel with torch-lit sconces every twenty feet.
“This is crazy,” I told him, no longer whispering.
He nodded. “Every good castle has a secret entrance.”
He led the way. We’d walked for quite a while when we reached another set of steps that went up. These led to a door, and I was quite excited to see where it would come out. Cahal pulled out a key and slipped it into the lock, pushing it wide open.
I gasped when we stepped into the king’s private bedroom.
“If there is ever an attack, you and the king can be out of the castle and on horseback in minutes,” he said.
It was incredible,but now that I was alone in the king’s bedroom, a place I’d only spent one very memorable night, I wasn’t sure what to do.
Cahal bowed deeply to me. “Have a bath, read a book, wait for him to come.”
Sit around and wait on someone to come yell at me for running away? Couldn’t wait.
I nodded, then Cahal left out the front door of the bedroom, speaking in hushed tones to the guards outside.
My stomach tightened as I thought of how pissed off Raife was going to be that I’d fled his little cabin prison in the woods. I knew our little conversation at Molly’s grave wasn’t over, and I wasn’t sure what was going to happen now. I took Cahal’s advice and had a long bath, relieved to find that my wardrobe closet was still here and stocked full. I slipped into an elegant sleeveless mint green gown and then tied my damp hair into two braids. I grabbed three books off of the shelves and then lay on the couch and began to read. After the first hour passed, I undid my braids and let my hair down, now with a kinky curl that I knew Raife loved. After the second hour, I started to pace the room anxiously, and my stomach grumbled.
When the third hour struck, I started to fear that Raife had killed that poor man and his wife for what they did to me. A knock finally came at the door and I nearly yelped in relief.
“Come in!” I yelled.
The door opened and Mrs. Tirth stepped in, looking over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t followed. “Brought you some soup and a tomato-cheese sandwich,” she said. “Tasted it myself.”
I was so happy to see her I nearly burst into tears. Rushing forward, I took the tray from her and set it down. “Thank you.”
She nodded, looking anxiously at me.
I chewed my lip. “Is he really mad at me?” I asked her. I didn’t know why I cared—he was the one who’d imprisoned me in the woods. But Mrs. Tirth was like a mother figure to Raife and I wanted her opinion.
She pressed her apron flat. “It’s been a zoo here, Kailani. He had to fire half the palace staff because he caught them selling information about you. People have been lining up at the doors with their sick and elderly all week.”
Hades. It was worse than I thought.
“I didn’t mean for people to find out that I’m blessed. But he was dying. What would you have had me do?” Tears lined my eyes and Mrs. Tirth stepped forward to scoop them off my cheek.
“Oh, honey, I would have done the same thing. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have to live with the consequences of our actions. I’ve known Raife his entire life. I helped raise him. I haven’t seen him this distressed since his parents died. I think the need to protect you from his own people is tearing him apart.”
I swallowed hard. And I’d just broken out of the only safe place he’d put me.
“I can’t live alone in the woods for the rest of my life. I’d rather die,” I told her.
She nodded, looking forlorn. “Well, if the people don’t calm down over this, you might just get your wish.”
Her bold claim knocked the breath out of me. They would kill me? Was that what she meant? Or force me to use my last healing breath?
“I—”
