Page 122 of The Kingdom's Reckoning
"I guess I’ll stop asking questions, then," Rian mumbled.
"Probably for the best," Laurince mused.
The flames bounced off the rounded walls of the sewer, and moisture glistened across the stone. But beyond a thin puddle that spread across the floor from the rain, there was no sign of water damage along the walls. Even the smell was better than she had imagined it would be.
"I thought this was a sewer," Myra said.
"It was supposed to be, but an engineer messed up the plans and didn’t connect it to the main sewage line," Laurince explained with a shrug.
"How did I not know about a tunnel that runs directly to my castle? And why didn’t you tell me?" Rian asked, glaring at Laurince.
"There are a lot of things you don’t know about your own castle and kingdom, remember?" Laurince arched a brow at him. "After all, you didn’t know about the experiments happening in the other tunnels."
"At least I knew those tunnels existed."
"But you never went to scope them out, did you?"
"Neither did you," Rian spat.
"Does anyone else know about these tunnels?" Myra asked, diverting the conversation as she nervously scanned the shadows ahead. Thick spiderwebs hung from the ceiling, and she did her best not to look at them too closely. She hated spiders.
Laurince shook his head. "Not that I’m aware. I accidentally discovered this tunnel when I was studying the layout of the castle. Some maps had slight differences around the location of the sewers, and I started digging into it. It took a long time to figure out."
"What’s to say no one else knows, then?" Myra asked. "If you found out, then others most likely have, too."
"Are you questioning my ability to uncover something no one else has?" Laurince asked, looking over his shoulder and smirking at her.
"No, I just…I don’t want to be caught surprised."
"Well, let us hope Laurince is as special as he thinks he is," Rian said behind her.
They made their way through the tunnels, the glowing light of the torch guiding them. Their soft breaths and footsteps on the concrete were the only sounds that broke up the silence. As they headed further into the tunnel, the air became tenser. Based on the eeriness seeping in through the ceilings and dripping onto the floors, Myra knew instinctively that they were nearing the castle. When she first visited Frenzia, she didn’t know why paranoia and fear gripped her throat when she would wander the halls. Now she knew all too well what horrors were taking place underneath their feet. The atrocities and secrets that had been occurring without Rian’s knowledge. She thought of the animals in the cages. Their thrashing and screeches were an incessant echo in the back of her mind as they continued.
She only hoped that Laurince was right and that this tunnel didn’t connect to the others.
"We’re getting closer, aren’t we?" Rian asked.
"I think so," Laurince said. "Once we’re inside, we stick to the plan. This should take us near the west wing. Bax will meet us in his room."
Soon, the light hit a wall.
"Great," Rian said with a disgruntled grunt. "It’s a dead end."
"Haze, will you hold this for a second?" Laurince held out the torch.
Myra took it and held it up for Laurince as he swiped his hand across the wall. He pressed his palms against a brick. Then something clicked.
"Ready?" Laurince asked, glancing back at Rian and Myra.
They both nodded.
"Put the fire out," he instructed, and Myra only hesitated for a second before dousing them in darkness.
Chapter 49
GRAESON
By the timeGraeson was making his way back to the farmhouse, voices floated through the air.
