Page 21 of The Salted Sceptre
‘His family deserves closure,’ I said and glanced at Hugo. ‘We’ve learned a lot tonight. Between what Athair told me at dinner and what you found at the castle, we know a lot more about him than we did a few hours ago.’ None of it was good news but there was a lot to work with. ‘As long as we don’t rush into anything and we’re careful, we?—’
I was interrupted by an almighty crash. We all stiffened in alarm.
‘Is anyone else in the castle?’ Slim asked urgently.
‘Everyone who should be here is in this room,’ Hugo said grimly. ‘I think we can agree that our intruder is still here.’
I stood up, determination coursing through my veins. ‘Well, it’s fortunate that we’re all hunters. Let’s go hunting and take care of them before they cause any real problems.’
The dark gleam in Hugo’s blue eyes was reflected in everyone else’s eyes, too. A moment later, we were all heading for the door.
Chapter
Eight
We each went in a different direction. This was familiar turf, even for me, and that meant we had the advantage. We knew where the best hiding places were, we understood the various creaks and their causes and, perhaps most importantly, we were determined to safeguard our home.
I wasn’t sure whether I’d feel the same about the Assigney mansion a few miles down the road, which technically was mine. I was only a guest here at Pemberville but I felt more at home here. Maybe it was because of Hugo, or maybe it was because this was where I’d shivered and vomited and hallucinated my way through my withdrawal from spider’s silk. In the end the reason didn’t particularly matter: what was important was my determination to track down whoever was threatening the safety of Pemberville Castle.
It didn’t take long to work out what had caused the loud crash. A suit of armour – the same suit of armour I’d pretended to check for intruders only an hour earlier – had fallen to the ground and its shiny pieces were strewn across the marble-tiledfloor. Whatever – whoever – had knocked it over was nowhere to be seen. Just to be sure, I double-checked the other four suits standing to attention around the vast hallway but, alas, nobody was hiding inside.
I walked into every single room and looked around; given the size of Pemberville and the vast number of rooms that was no mean feat, but no matter how many curtains I pulled back or tables I ducked under, I couldn’t find anyone.
There was only one place where I thought I might be on the intruder’s trail. When I popped my head into the small cupboard where Otis and Hester kept their clothes and occasionally slept, Gladys buzzed. It was only a brief note, and the sentient sword sounded more surprised than vicious or angry, but there was nothing to see inside the cupboard beyond what I’d expected. Despite my repeated requests, Gladys remained silent throughout the remainder of my search.
After almost an hour, I returned to the main hall. Miriam had collected the pieces from the fallen suit of armour and was putting them back together, although that appeared to be more complicated than we’d expected. I was certain that she had the feet the wrong way around. Given her frustrated expression, I decided against telling her to swap the right and left boots. It wasn’t as if the hollow knight would be going into battle any time soon.
‘I’ve checked every room and I couldn’t find anything,’ I said. ‘Not even a whisper of an intruder.’
Becky nodded. ‘Rizwan and I searched the basement and the attic. There was nothing there.’
‘I have been through the ground floor,’ Duchess agreed solemnly. ‘I cannot sense anyone.’
Hugo paused halfway down the stairs. ‘Anything?’ he asked. We shook our heads.
Otis buzzed in from the right and Hester from the left, their faces blank.
‘Maybe it’s a ghost,’ Mark suggested.
Uh-oh. Hester immediately stiffened and started whipping her head from side to side in alarm. ‘Or maybe,’ I said quickly, before she descended into hysteria, ‘whoever knocked the suit of armour over escaped before we left the Bone Zone.’
Hugo’s expression was grim. ‘The doors are bolted and the windows are locked tight. The pane of glass that was smashed earlier was covered with plywood hours ago. I checked and it’s not been touched.’ He looked at me. ‘Is there a chance that Athair’s magic extends to this? Could he use his powers to reach inside a building? Or could he somehow transport himself here?’
I swallowed. ‘I don’t know,’ I whispered. ‘But if he can do that, I think we might be fucked.’
Miriam cursed and gave up on her attempt to rebuild the suit of armour. She’d reached his chest, but his shoulders and arms appeared to be a step too far for this time of night. She dropped the helmet to the floor and turned to face us.
‘If it was Athair, he’s not here now,’ she said in a brisk tone that suggested she wouldn’t accept any nonsense even from the most terrifying fiend the country had ever seen, ‘We should bed down for the night in the Bone Zone where we have a degree of safety. In the morning, we will complete another thorough search then engage the services of more witches to draw wards around the building, not just one room. It means no more visitors for the time being, but I think we all agree it is necessary.’
We all nodded. Even if her suggestion hadn’t been eminently sensible, I doubted anyone would have dared to argue with her.
Duchess jutted out her bottom lip. ‘I’m not staying inside. I’ll return to my bridge. Whoever sneaked in here only managed itbecause I wasn’t at my post.’ She pulled back her heavy, rounded shoulders. ‘It will not happen again.’
‘It’s not your fault, Duchess,’ Otis said.
‘It probablyisyour fault,’ Hester muttered, although this time she spoke quietly enough for the troll not to hear her. It was just as well; I had the beginnings of a very nasty headache pushing at the back of my eyes. I desperately needed some peace and quiet and, from their pale, exhausted expressions, everyone else did too.
It didn’t take longto transform the Bone Zone into sleeping quarters; our camping gear was still at the front door after our last excursion, so we simply had to pull out our sleeping bags and haul them through the castle before we bedded down for the night. But we were all uncomfortable and we had a fitful night. We didn’t know who had breached Pemberville Castle or where they were now.
