Till Death Do Us Part

25. The Light in the Dark

And yet, a voice woke her up.

A strange voice that was foreign and familiar at the same time. A woman's voice.

Skylar frowned, trying to recall who the voice reminded her of, but she couldn't quite put a face to it. She got out of bed and, not bothering to put on a robe or shoes, walked barefoot to the door and looked out to the hallway.

It was dark and empty. Most guards had been reassigned to patrol the borders, so not many soldiers were left idle in the estate. A few torches illuminated the corridor, but enough to make sure no one trips in the dark. Eerie shadows were dancing in the corners. And then, Skylar noticed a movement at the end of the hall, as if someone had just passed the torch, making the flame wobble a bit.

Not wasting time thinking, she followed. Her bare feet were silent on the carpets, and her hand held the dagger firmly. There was a strange nagging at the back of her mind. As if she just saw someone she once knew, and she felt somehow compelled to follow to see who that was.

She walked through the estate's silent corridors, never quite catching the mysterious figure, no matter how fast or how slow her pace was. The only thing was a shivering flame right after someone passed it. When she reached an old musty cellar room, she stopped.

They hardly used this place anymore. It used to be a wine cellar, but since they didn't have much wealth, it was never fully supplied, and hardly anyone was coming here anymore. The dust covering everything was the unmistakable sign of that. But there was an old, partly rotten wooden door at the back of the room. Skylar never noticed they were there, as they were hidden behind a high dusty shelf. But now, they were wide open.

Skylar stood there for a moment, considering. She took a torch from the holder on the wall and walked closer to the opening. It was dark inside, and thick cobwebs were adorning the walls and the ceiling. She frowned and looked at the ground again. Her footprints were the only ones that broke the layer of dust on the floor.

Who opened that door, then? And how?

"Skylar." The voice said just behind her, and she jumped, whirling around, dagger raised.

But there was nobody there.

No, there was something.

A gold speck of light was floating in the air at her eye level, barely visible in the darkness.

"Come," a voice said. Skylar wasn't sure if she heard it with her ears or inside her mind. Before she could decide which was it, the light flew over her shoulder and into the passageway, disappearing in the darkness.

"What are you?" she managed to ask finally. But she got no response. She huffed a few curses and followed the light. She held the dagger in front of her face to get rid of all the cobwebs on the way.

The passage wasn't long. It took only a few minutes to reach the small chamber at its end. The room was circular, with a ceiling barely higher than in the walkway. In the centre stood a statue, but it was so old and cracked that it was hard to tell who was depicted. The shape looked more feminine, but that's it. Skylar touched the stone with her fingers. It was nothing more than a cold stone.

"I never liked this statue anyway," said the voice, and Skylar spun round.

A woman was standing there. And at the same time, no one was there. Skylar swayed on her feet and blinked rapidly, but the vision didn't change. She could see the woman, a pale figure made of light, but at the same time, she could see the stone wall right behind her. As if her mind couldn't decide which sight was the real one. It made her head hurt.

Skylar narrowed her eyes and tried to focus on the woman. She looked vaguely familiar - her hair was long and wavy, her face round with a small kind smile. The realisation hit her like a hammer on the head. She never actually saw the woman, only the paintings of her.