The Book of Many People

Never Trust a Suit of Armor

Celestar smiled at him as Nevay also pushed past Eladras to walk beside him. Nevay smiled back.

They'd gone back up to the second level, and now Celestar was wondering where to go from here. The dungeon in the palace was tiny, having a total of nine cells, only two of which were occupied. There must be some other prison somewhere else where Nalifrom and Wentarion were.

"Where do you think the rest of our people are?" Celestar asked Nevay.

Nevay's expression turned grim. "Eladras, the new one, said they took Nalifrom out and did not return him. I do not know where they took him. But Wentarion, I think, should be in some sort of armory, or mounted on the wall somewhere as a decoration."

"Wentarion's a sword like you," said Celestar. It wasn't really a question.

"Yes," said Nevay. For a moment he looked uncertain. "I hope you-"

"Nevay," Celestar cut him off. "It's fine. We'll find him, and we'll go from there."

The little sword looked relieved. Then it occurred to him: "Does anyone know where the armory is?"

"Uh," said Celestar, intelligently.

"I believe I do," said Eladras. "It's on the fourth floor somewhere. They dragged me up to see the king, and I saw a soldier go into a room and come out with a bow."

"That's nice," said Celestar. "All the way up on the fourth floor. We'd better be quiet."

Eladras nodded. "That would be prudent."

Nevay shot him a glare when he thought neither of the Alfeyakiin would notice. Celestar did and didn't comment.

Eladras either saw it and ignored it, or just didn't see it at all.

I wonder what it is that Nevay doesn't like about Eladras, he thought. Celestar shook it aside, and began walking up the stairs.

"The alarm seems to have been abandoned," said Nevay. "There are no longer soldiers running through the halls."

"That's good," said Celestar. "Where even are we, anyways?"

"On a staircase? What do you mean?" Asked Eladras.

"This is a palace," stated Celestar.

"So it is," agreed Eladras. "Your point?"

"People live in here. Where are we in terms of that?"

"Oh," said Eladras. "Er. The ground floor is throne room one, ballroom, feast hall, and reception. The second floor is where the staff work. It's also home to the kitchen and laundry facilities. The third floor is the guard's quarters. The fourth floor is the most heavily guarded floor. I think it's the treasury as well as the armory. The fifth floor has a huge courtyard in it. The sixth, seventh and eighth floors are residential? I'm not actually sure. The ninth floor is court and the other throne room. I've never actually been to the tenth floor, but I'm pretty sure that's the royal suite."

"That's a lot of floors," said Celestar. He felt a little dizzy from that whirlwind of information.

"Too many floors," grumbled Nevay.

"Hear hear," said Eladras.

Behind them, Lore and Kaia were quietly talking amongst each other, not sparing any presence of mind for the conversations of their companions. Celestar couldn't blame them. They missed each other; they deserved this time together.

The stairwell ended at the fourth floor in a plain wooden door. Celestar gently eased it open a crack, and peered out at the space beyond, keeping a careful lookout for any guard activity.