Page 95 of Highland Queen

“Hello?” I called.

While the wall sconces were lit and there was a fire burning in the great hall, no one answered.

It was very late, and the castle was not fully staffed. Perhaps everyone was asleep.

Again, the raven called.

Grabbing my skirts, I went downstairs. It was only then that I realized I had left my gloves behind. They must have slipped off in my sleep. As before, my hands were covered in slick, red blood.

I frowned and told myself to ignore the sight.

I followed the winding castle down to the first level. Here, I caught the scent of the woods outside. Having not yet toured this level of the castle, I felt easily turned around. I looked about for a servant or soldier, but everything was quiet.

“Hello?”

Again, the raven cawed.

I passed through another elaborate hall and down a narrow hallway. Here, the castle stones were a different color. The rocks were darker. The candlelight woke the sparkles in the stones. They shimmered. The masonry was shaped differently here as well. When I studied the walls, I noticed someone had made carvings around the doorways.

I realized then that I was in the original section of the fortress. These stones were the first stones. These walls were the first walls. I reached out to touch them.

When my bloody fingertips grazed the stones, the entire castle seemed to shudder.

The raven cawed once more. It was somewhere inside. Somewhere still ahead. I shifted my taper and moved deeper into the castle. This part of the fortress had not yet been touched. It was full of dust and cobwebs. I followed a narrow hallway that led into a wide, open room. Old, broken furniture littered the place. As I gazed across the room, a sense of wonderment filled me. This was the hall of some forgotten king or queen. A cold hearth trimmed with finely chiseled masonry work was on one wall. A raised dais, where the throne must have once sat, was on the other side of the room.

I jumped when a fire sprang to life in the hearth.

A raven shrieked sharply.

I followed the sound.

I spotted a stairwell that I hadn’t seen before in one corner.

The raven cawed, its voice echoing up from below. Had the creature gotten trapped inside?

Moving carefully around the broken stones, I followed the sound of the raven, winding down the stairs.

The air chilled. I smelled the thick scents of loam and lime. I was moving underground. This part of the castle had been dug into the very mountain. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I realized I was standing in a cave. Torches on the cave walls had been lit. A raven sat on a perch. When it saw me, it cawed then flew into one of the connecting tunnels.

My hands shaking, I followed the bird.

The gods were at work.

I walked down the dark passage. I heard the call of the raven ahead of me. A dim, blue light shined. I moved toward it. All the hairs on the back of my neck had risen. To my surprise, the amethyst gems on my raven torcs and amulet began to glow. I could feel the buzz of magic in the air. The scents of heady white sage perfumed the place. Under them, I smelled loamy earth and mud. Water trickled down the cave walls. The ground below me was wet.

As I walked, I noticed the cave walls were lined with tombs. The empty eye sockets of skeletons looked out at me. An arch trimmed with skulls led into an open space that was illuminated blue.

I crossed the threshold only to find myself standing in the chamber of the Lord of the Hollow Hills on Ynes Verleath. It was just as I had left it. The place was full of skeletons, the lord still seated on his throne. Blue flames shimmered in the sconces. And in the center of the space stood Andraste who was leaning against her staff.

The raven landed on the back of the throne of the Lord of the Hollow Hills. It cawed at Andraste then it turned and flew off down another tunnel.

“Well, now I know what all the screeching was about,” she said, her eyes following the bird. She looked back at me.

“Tell me the truth,” I said, glaring at Andraste. “You cannot hide from me now. The Goddess has brought both of us here. Tell me the truth about Lulach and Crearwy.”

“I moved you where you needed to go. I did as I was charged. I protected the land, and I moved you as the visions told me to.”

“And you lied to me.”

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