Page 89 of Shadowborne: Reckoning

I took a breath and caught myself before I flinched. “Here?”

Voski nodded. “Everyone’s already left for the banquet. I planned to slip inside, but I was waiting for the last servants to leave the main corridor.” He tipped his head in the direction of the corridor I’d been headed for, the one that linked the residential wings with the main building.

“You truly didn’t know, Bren?”

“Truly,” I breathed, uncertain how I felt about that. I’d walked down these corridors half a dozen times before, though there were usually at least a few servants nearby. They looked like any other hallways in the grand palace.

How many times might I have passed Ruin without knowing? Or, been tangled up with him if he’d seen me?

Dear God…

I opened my mouth to tell Voski that I had to move, had to get away from here, when it hit me.

No, dammit.

I had faced this man down. I had met his cold gaze. I was in the process of outwitting him.

If Ruin saw me… well, so be it. I could walk down a fucking corridor in the palace. I gave a shaky little laugh.

Voski tipped his head. “What did you just think to yourself?”

“I just reminded myself I had no reason to fear a fucking hallway,” I muttered dryly. “I have to go. I will hope to miss him, of course. But I have to get to the banquet.”

Voski’s lips thinned. “While I’m inclined to agree with you, I’d feel better if I could escort you until there are others nearby. Witnesses,” he said grimly.

“But you have to—”

“We’re moving in the same direction. I’ll make myself your servant. Your guard. Something itches between my shoulder blades tonight, Bren. Unseen eyes. Indulge me, please. I’ll only follow you until there are others nearby—then send me to the stable to check on Akhane for you.”

I sighed, but also recognized that bristling, masculine protectiveness that overtook Donavyn at times. My brother and Shadowfang Wing Leader meant well.

I supposed it couldn’t do any harm to have a guard until I reached a busier portion of the castle.

“Well… fine. Walk behind me like you’re following me—it’s what the nobles do here. The servants always walk behind them. Keep your head down—but nudge me when we reach Ruin’s door. I want to know where it is.”

29. Dark Corners

~ BREN ~

Voski looked stern. “Bren, the General already told us not to let you try to search—”

“I want to avoid Ruin’s chambers in future,” I said with a sigh. “I won’t stop or look, just give me the nudge so I know where it is.”

Voski looked uneasy, but nodded. I took a step towards the curtain and he caught the hand I extended to push it back. “It’s a good chance to practice being discreet,” he whispered pointedly.

My cheeks heated as I nodded. I wanted him to see that I’d improved in my skills since we got here, not that I was forgetting everything that he taught me. But he slipped right into instruction, as if it was nothing.

“Remember, movement will be noticed before anything else. See what you can without touching anything first. Then slowly take the curtain back from the wall, not the center—and facing the most likely direction from which you might have visitors.”

I did as he’d said, and careful not to brush the curtains with my skirt, I leaned towards that tiny gap between the two curtains and put my eye to it, scanning as much of the corridor as I could without moving anything. Then I returned to the side where we’d entered, and slowly eased the curtain back from the wall to look down towards the intersection of this hallway with the main corridor at the end. It was dim with shadows from this distance, the lanterns not quite illuminating the full space.

“I can’t see anything,” I whispered, then slid my palm along the wall and slowly inched the curtain back. Sadly, I would need a great deal of space for my skirts, so there was no chance of slipping into the hallway gracefully. But Voski remained behind me as I swept the curtain back to give me enough space, then stepped out, heart beating a little quicker than it had before.

I took a quick look up and down the hallway before stepping out to the center and walking as I would normally. Voski murmured approval and some warning for how to approach the intersection of hallways and what to look for.

“Ruin’s doorway is the third alcove on the left in that corridor. Don’t be obvious about it.”

I was already a little late to the banquet, so I prayed Ruin was far away and under Donavyn’s eyes.