Whispers (Book 3 of Wielder series)

Chapter 17 - The Search

   When he blinked them open again, they had left Willy's apartments behind.

   The palace bedroom they found themselves in was incredibly spacious. It consisted of one large room, built similarly to a studio apartment, but bigger. A massive four-poster bed with crisp silk sheets and a plush, heavily embroidered coverlet stood proudly at one end. The ornate armoire standing beside it looked big enough to hold a hundred gowns. There was a solid oak table surrounded by six full-sized dining chairs, as well as several lounging couches and plush chairs. The drawn curtains covered three separate windows, each of which stood taller and wider than he could reach. A giant ebony rug detailed with gold swirls and repeating patterns covered the better part of the wood floor, tying everything together.

   The room also contained a dressing table, a tall standing mirror, all which stood off in a corner together. A disorganized collection of makeup littered the surface of the dressing table, but other than that, the room looked freshly tidied. It even still smelled of cleaner, as if the maids who tended to it had just left.

   Darrel sniffed the air. It took him a moment, but he caught a whiff of Victoria's perfume lingering in the air. He nodded sharply. "This is the place."

   "Good." Willy immediately moved toward the armoire. "Let's not stay any longer than we have to. There are sure to be guards posted outside, so make sure to keep any noise you make to a minimum."

   Darrel glanced around the room. He didn't know where to start. Even if the place had been freshly cleaned, he was sure that Victoria would notice a bunch of his fingerprints left behind on whatever he searched. She seemed too thorough to miss something being even slightly out of place.

   Willy flung open the armoire, pushed past the assortment of dresses and robes hanging inside, and ran his hand along the back panel.

   Darrel crossed his arms over his chest. "If you're looking for Narnia, you're going to be disappointed."

   "I'm looking for false backs," he grunted, pushing himself out of the heap of clothing. "I doubt Tyla and Victoria would keep any of their secrets somewhere that could be accidentally discovered by the cleaning staff. My guess is that they have a safe or alcove hidden somewhere. See if there's any loose boards under the rug."

   Darrel winced. "The rug is huge!"

   Willy got down on his hands and knees, pushing boards on the bottom of the armoire in an attempt to find a hidden compartment. "I thought you had magic to help you with things like that."

   Rolling his eyes, Darrel gripped the edge of the rug. Using magic to help him, he rolled the whole edge back, scanning the wooden panels underneath for any indication that they could be moved.

   He found nothing. Not a single board could be lifted.

   Willy came up empty in his search of the furniture. They came back together in the center of the room as Darrel unrolled the rug back into place.

   "I don't think they're keeping anything in here," Darrel admitted, crossing his arms over his chest.

   "If this was meant to be easy, someone else would have discovered it by now." Willy frowned down at the rug, inspecting its patterns with a sweep of his gaze. "Let me try something else."

    He bent down, pressing his hand to the fibers. For a moment, golden magic coated his fingers. He ran the glistening specks across the rug, leaving them like a sprinkling of glitter over the surface. Darrel watched patiently, but when nothing happened, he started to fidget.

   He was just about to suggest they try something else when the magic suddenly glowed a little brighter.

   Willy ran his hand over the spot where the magic glowed, sweeping it in wider and wider circles around the spot. The glow revealed two footprints, facing one of the curtained windows.