Page 26 of Beyond Those Gilded Walls

“The others must be asking after me,” I said, standing abruptly. He leaned back in his chair, lacing his fingers together over his stomach. I swallowed hard and lifted my hand. “Thank you for your assistance, my lord.”

I’d made it to the door before he responded.

“Odyssa?” he called.

I turned.

“I’m far from a lord.”

Our stares were locked for another moment before I managed to pull away and turn my back to him.

Gods, what had I been thinking? Nothing good would come of this, and I was losing myself more and more to this place. Forgetting the reason I’d come here in the first place, forgettingwhyI had sacrificed myself to this castle.

It couldn’t happen again. Wouldn’t happen again.

A hand brushed my lower back. “Let me escort you. I would hate for you to get injured again on your way back.”

The heat in his words washed over my neck, and I knew without a doubt that Tallon knew exactly what had happened in those halls. My heart could not decide if that reassured me or terrified me down to my very bones. I took a deep breath through my nose. Ultimately, it mattered little which one. I was here, and so was he, and if he could keep the Soulshades from attacking me, I needed to take advantage of it.

“That’s very kind of you,” I lied.

ChapterThirteen

Iwas a failure, and yet, I refused to let myself wallow in self-pity. That would not help my brothers, would not appease my mother, and would do nothing to punish the Coward Prince.

I had a job to do, and I would not get it done if I was drowning in doubt and distracted by Tallon and his mystery.

“Do not fret about your work,” he said, startling me out of my thoughts by voicing them aloud. Perhaps he could. Perhaps the walls whispered my thoughts to him. I wondered what work he was speaking of. “I’ll ensure it’s taken care of.”

I laced my hands behind my back and dug my thumb into the center of my palm before I spoke. It centered me, despite feeling one of the neat stitches tear from my flesh and blood ooze into the bandage. I clasped my hands tighter. “That’s very generous of you.”

He nodded towards my door. “You should get some rest. Welcome to the castle, Odyssa.”

I entered my room without replying, closing the door behind me and leaning back against it. There would be no rest for me tonight.

As soon as his footsteps faded down the halls, I opened the door again. I needed to return to the hallway and inspect the walls. I couldn’t have imagined them closing in on me, or the new wall appearing behind me to block my path. I couldn’t have imagined the stone tearing open like paper to allow the Soulshades to pour out.

Could I?

At this point, I was far from confident that what had happened wasn’t in my own mind. The Soulshades had never tried to attack me before, and I’d never seen them coming from the walls. They’d always just appeared, flickering in and out of existence and accompanied by the acrid taste of ash and smoke.

Every sound had me jumping out of my skin as I wound through the halls and back down towards the cellar level, retracing the path as best I could.

If I had any hopes of leaving this castle alive, I needed to understand what I was facing. Zaharya had said the walls were hungry, but I was hungry too. I would find out what was happening in this castle, and I would ensure the last of my family survived.

Someone was playing games in the castle, and whether it was magic, an illusion, or medicine, it was not a game I was keen on continuing.

Finally back in the hallway, I stooped at the crossing, letting my fingers trace over the stone where I knew without a doubt there had been a pool of wine and broken glass before, but they were smooth and dry, no longer sticky with drying wine and blood. Not even a stain darkened their facade.

Tallon had something to do with this, but I doubted I would get answers from him. He was too good at deflecting my questions with comments that he knew would draw me in. Was he the one controlling the walls? The Soulshades? He’d certainly been the one creating my nightmare illusions, for whatever reason. I vowed to confront him the next time he threw those visions at me.

The others had me wavering, thinking he would strike me for impudence. Perhaps he would. There were worse things in life than physical pain, though.

My examination took me to the walls themselves next. Rough stone pulled at the bandage around my wounded hand, but no seams were revealed. No trace of anything to hint at how the Soulshades had appeared or how the walls had moved.

Footsteps echoed down the right branch of the hall, and I froze.

“…must ensure they do not…” a male voice sounded, just this side of too faint to be certain of the words. “…too much work to do…must learn more about…”

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