Page 92 of The Daughter of the Scarred Elf

“What do you propose, then?” Blár leaned against the wall. “I thought we would sneak around once we got a little lower. Do you want to sneak around now?”

She nodded mutely.

He pushed himself off the wall. “You should’ve just said that from the start.”

She tamped down her annoyance as they carefully peeked around the corner and began to stealthily go down the stairs and across the hallway. They made sure to keep themselves sparse when soldiers were walking by, choosing to go to a different hallway or sneak into a maintenance closet or two. When theyfinally reached the lowest level, they entered the same storage room Kolfinna had found the first time she had snuck in here.

“I can’t see a thing.” Blár spread his hands in front of himself and caught the edge of a wooden box stacked atop three similar-looking ones. He ran his hand over the edge of it and his brows drew together. “Is this a box?”

“It is.”

“Can you see anything? Like with your fae eyes?”

Kolfinna looked from him to the shadows across the room, to the stacked boxes, rolled up carpets, and piles of uniforms atop wooden crates. The sliver of light beneath the door was enough for her to make out the basic outlines and details of the room. It became even clearer to her that this wasn’t normal for “fae eyes,” and that she wouldn’t have been able to see this well a few months ago.

Elven blood.

The anxiety in her chest tightened.

“We’re just going to go down—” Her voice caught in her throat and she quickly tilted her head to the side, to the noise that was approaching down the hall. Her entire body went still.

Click. Click. Click.

It took her a second to realize they were footsteps, and another second to realize that there were two of them—and they were approaching this door.

Kolfinna bolted into action. She snatched Blár’s hand and led him to one of the wooden crates at the end of the room. He grunted in surprise, “What?—”

“Shh!” Kolfinna yanked him down to the floor until they were hidden behind one of the wooden crates.

Five seconds passed. Blár was crouching uncomfortably beside her, his back pressed against the wall and his knees jammed against the crate. Kolfinna wasn’t in a much better position, but at least she wasn’t bent up like a pastry roll.

The footsteps grew louder and finally stopped at the door. A shadow warped along the room and the light dimmed. Blár went still beside her and she was sure she had stopped breathing.

The door creaked open and light pooled into the room.

“—don’t think he’s very interested at all,” a feminine voice said with a long sigh. “You know what it’s like with men.”

“I’m married, so I’m not really sure.” Another feminine voice. This one sounded a bit older.

“Oh, come on. There must’ve been a point that you?—”

“Grab those uniforms quickly.”

“Ugh.”

The two women chatted while rummaging through the room. Blár and Kolfinna sat frozen on the floor. Kolfinna silently prayed they would leave quickly. If they ventured deeper into the room, they would see the two of them crouched down between the wall and a crate. Kolfinna tried to come up with a good excuse she could have ready, but she couldn’t think of one.

“Did you get a chance to see that fae girl?”

Kolfinna shot Blár an alarmed look.

“The one who used to be a Royal Guard?”

“Yeah, her.”

“What about her?”

“Isn’t she …”

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