Hunting Royalty

2. Basements and Brothers

"Thank you, father," I say smiling at my small victory. He slides the key across his desk and I reach for it.

"Alia," he says in a low voice just before my fingers touch the key. I look up nervous that he's changed his mind. He smiles, "Have fun, sweetheart." I smile back before snatching the key and skipping out of the room.

I head down a few more hallways avoiding the maids and footmen. I enter an empty room which is set up as a formal sitting room. We never use it and its always deserted, however it's one of the few entrances to the hidden passageways. I walk to the back of the room and reach behind the frame of a large painting. I find the latch and it clicks open. I glace around once more before slipping into the passage and closing it behind me.

I'm immediately smothered by darkness. I reach out to the wall and slide my hand along until I find what I'm looking for. My fingers close around a smooth handle and I lift the torch from the wall. I place the palm of my other hand on the top and feel the cool stone. I whisper a spell and the glow stone illuminates lighting the narrow passage.

I head left down the passage until I reach a spiral staircase. I descend a few flights of stairs until I reach the bottom level. The passageways are supposed to be secret but I have a feeling that a few of the servants have come across an entrance by accident when cleaning. Nobody but our immediate family knows about the basement.

I reach down and fight the layers of my skirt to lift my hem up enough to slide the dagger strapped to my thigh out of its holster. I look at the blank stone wall in front of me and search the wall for a small circular hole. Its barely noticeable among all the other defects but I've been here more than a few times and know where to look.

I use the tip of the dagger to cut my index finger before sliding it into the hole to activate the enchantment. I quickly slide it back out as the stones I'm standing on begin to descend. I wait a few seconds as the stone platform sinks beneath the earth and to the basement. I step off the stone and it immediately rises back into position.

I feel a tickle of awareness race up my spine as I realize that I'm not alone. I hear the soft scrape of gravel on stone as the intruder steps towards me. In one quick motion, I change the grip on my dagger, turn and throw it at my target. I don't hear the tell-tale thud of impact or groan of pain but I know the dagger was on target.

The man steps into the ring of light my glow-stone torch has created. "Careful little sis, no throwing knives in the house," he says with a smirk as he hands back my dagger.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"A little birdie told me to meet you," he says holding up a similar letter to the one I received.

"Should've known," I say as I brush past him heading towards the vault.

It's dark and the air is stale but I love the architecture down here. I touch a nearby panel and glow stones fixed to the ceiling illuminate the space. The ceiling is domed with large thick pillars between each dome connecting it to the floor. There are too many rooms down here to name all, but they hold the majority of our wealth and all the family secrets.

The west wing also has a basement level, it's separate to the east basement because it holds the cells but I can't recall it ever being in use. I walk past over twenty locked doors before reaching the main vault.

I tuck my dagger back under my skirt and withdraw the key from my pocket and insert it into the lock. Unlike a regular lock and key this one is enchanted. The vault door is protected by layers of spells and can only be opened if the key is in the lock. There is a hum of magic as the enchantments are neutralized before the vault swings open.