The impending darkness changed the atmosphere of the palace. The magnificently opened windows were now overshined by the lit candles that lined the walls around them. By the looks of it, hundreds lined their path. Granting just enough light to sneak past without drawing too much attention to themselves.
"Where are we going?" August finally whispered, only to be silenced by the princess placing her finger against her lips before leading her once more.
The girls traveled back down the far hallway and this time turned into a small room near the end. Inside the room was no more than an old wooden chair sitting in the center. Despite it's small size, August still figured it was larger than her own cabin back in Sennewick. In the silence she looked at Izzy puzzled, only to be responded to with a grin.
Their hands detached, allowing Izzy to step inside and up onto the chair. August watched as she extended her arms upward, pushing a loose ceiling tile out of the way and pulling down a small ladder.
"Up for an adventure?" She gazed down at the magic girl before ascending upwards.
August followed up the ladder into another small room of an equal size. When she made it up they carefully pulled the ladder back up and replaced the tile before Izzy set out the door into a room that, upon appearance, made August gasp.
The room had been lined from the floor to the ceiling in large mahogany shelves that were stuffed incredibly with even more books than the princess had in her room. Some looked even older than her. It was evident that the royal family valued reading, or at least someone in it did. Besides the books the room had bounds of large plush chairs and more windows bringing in the deep orange glow from the sunset. She imagined that they were pretty far up by now.
"This is incredible!" she exclaimed.
"Not just yet though," Izzy replied, making her way to a thin black spiral staircase nearly hidden in the corner. Trying their best not to misstep, they made their way up it and finally reached a small circular door with a bronze latch above them.
The princess swiftly unlatched it and pushed up, revealing the night sky above. They climbed up and found themselves on a railed in platform high upon one of the palaces towers. It was small compared to most things in the palace, but considering the view it felt vast. The only addition was a small bench along one of the edges, overlooking the kingdom.
"Woah," August whispered under her breath as looked out onto the world below. The stories of Aldham never truly did it justice- it was magnificent. Vast and dense, the city looked like a colony of ants below. As the sun was just departing below the horizon she looked out and could see far past the wall and into the dense collection of trees. Snow covered a few, leaving a hodgepodge of whites and oranges in her view. of August felt as if she was the ruler of all of Ostshore from up here yet also gave her the feeling of being so small in comparison to it all.
She walked out and placed her hands on the railing, breathing in the cold night air. "What is this place?" she finally asked. Turning back she found Izzy staring at her, unable to hide the smile on her face.
"My mother always called it the observatory. A secret place only accessible to people who know it exists, which most do not."
"What about your father?"
"Father detests my love for reading. He always thought it was a waste of time. So before my grandmother passed she showed me up to her secret library and the observatory that accompanied it. Since then I've sort of claimed it as my own." Izzy smiled bashfully. "I know it's not much-"
"Are you kidding?" August interrupted, "This is magnificent! I've never seen anything like this."
She grinned, "Well that isn't even the best part." She reached out her hand, "Come here".
