Sword and Mind

14

Rumah's eyes widened as she looked in the direction the queen was. Before the queen even remembered, she had guessed the stone. The queen sighed briefly and said, "Ah, here it is." She lightly touched the rock and the wall opened wide enough for one person to walk through at a time. Rumah followed the queen into the darkness of the tunnel as did Pallu. The door closed with a whisper behind Pallu, leaving them in utter darkness.

"There are torches a little further down. Alright. Now. Where to begin? This place is somewhat of a labyrinth. They were somewhat paranoid about people finding what they weren't supposed to. Or rather their father was first and passed it to them. He even hired foreigners to build the second estate with the same maze but opposite. Also...oh watch your step there. It's a bit of a dip. As I was saying, the maze also leads to Dortar Castle." The queen fell silent as the two young women felt the air above them expand, and there were indeed torches to the right and left but were far enough away that no light could be seen coming down the entrance corridor.

"Stay here." The queen went to the right, retrieved a torch, and rejoined them. "While none know of this place, it is best to use a bit of misdirection just in case." She lead them further down the left corridor and through several twists and turns with doors until they arrived at the corridor the queen sought. There were three doors on each side and one at the very end of the hall. The queen chose the third door on the left, unlocked and opened it to reveal a stone wall.

Pallu's head tilted to the side. "Is it the wrong one?"

Nah. This's the one.

"No. It's the right one." The queen smiled as did Rumah, both enjoying the complexity of the maze. She put her finger to the brick above her head and tapped it slightly. To Pallu's amazement and Rumah's delight, the wall opened noiselessly. "All the doors that you have seen are the same except only a handful really open into rooms, and there is one that will open to the castle, and another will lead you to each other's homes. I will not tell you which as I know that you will both enjoy discovering the in's and out's of the estates. This, however, I will show you." With an outstretched hand an unlit torch came to her which she lit and handed to Rumah. The new duchess's dropped open at the sight before her. The room was as large as the lesser dinning hall of Dortar Castle which could seat over one hundred people with plenty of room to spare. In the room were paintings and books of priceless value, armor of centuries past gleaming gold and silver in the firelight, and coin neatly counted and stored.

Rumah's hand went to her mouth as she gingerly touched the closest painting. "That's...that's Tiniv's Lady Meadow."

"Very good, Rumah." The queen was genuinely surprised.

The young woman seemed to come to life like she had never before as she moved to the suit of armor next to the painting. "This's 'is armor. He was a Warrior an' Painter. An' the books. Look at 'em. They've ta be at least a hundred years old."

"Wyn was very fond of literature and art. Especially the very old literature."

"Ru, look at this. It's Edia's original edition of Cylyndd Poems."

Rumah rushed to Pallu's side and looked at the book as if there were nothing more precious in the world. The queen watched the pair as they looked from the book to each other and then back to the book. Whenever the girls' eyes met, Ner could nearly swear they were speaking to each other. How often had Wyn and Reya done exactly that? No, they are simply close friends.

"I have tried to come myself to preserve what I could, but as you can see from the dust, I have not been able to come often. Especially after Melchiah's death. Pallu, you will find a room similar to this one below your home. As I said, the layout is opposite this one."