Chapter 107 : The White-Haired Girl
Maeve
The tunnel system snaked beneath the forest floor on the outskirts of the castle grounds. Most of it was caved in, which is likely how it had stayed hidden for so long. The forest was vast, and even with warriors lining the perimeter of the castle grounds, I felt utterly hidden from the outside world.
We‘d followed Carl through the forest for at least a mile. A rocky hill sprouted from the forest floor, strange, gnarled trees growing out of the pockets of earth between the mas sive, cracked boulders. The earth dropped down as we neared the hill, and the landscape looked as though some kind of ex plosion had happened there, long ago now. Grass and moss blanketed the area’s scars.
“The men will wake soon,” said a red-eyed man behind us.
| sucked in my breath. Rogues. Rogues with their piercing, red eyes. My mom had told me stories of them.
One of them having been my own father, at one point in time.
What were the Rogues doing mingling with the likes of Tasia?
“Find somewhere to set them down. Hayden will deal with them. Bind their hands and legs, though.” Carl motioned for Hanna and me to stop then walked forward. There was a dark ened gap between two boulders, and as he approached, an
other man came out of the darkness, holding a lantern. Carl furned to look at us, at me.
“After you,” he said, bowing his head as he motioned us forward into the remains of the tunnel below.
It was cold and damp. I could smell nothing but sulfur and wondered how long these people had been hiding in the tun nel’s depths.
Worst of all, I found it impossible to mind-link, even with my close proximity to the castle’s inhabitants, which was likely only a few miles away.
I found the reason for this almost immediately as Hanna and I followed Carl into the depths of the long-forgotten tun nels. Lanterns had been hung along the walls by long, rusted nails.
And dangling from the lanterns were raw, red stones, the same stone that lined the valley where Dianny had been nes tled.
| swallowed hard, remembering how Una ‘had told me about the significance of the stone, how it prevented the powers of the wolf from taking over. We hadn’t been able to mind-link there.
“Shit,” I mumbled, glancing at Hanna.
She was looking straight ahead, unblinking. Had Tasia brought them here? She must have. It was the only explana tion.
us through an old wooden
wide, circular room of sorts with a shallow ceiling. I felt a ripple of unease as Carl failed to follow us in side, instead placing the broken door over the opening, his footsteps
softly, “are
we heard a familiar voice ap proaching. “I’m sure your knowledge of my involvement in Damian’s plot surprised you, Princess. I’m thankful I have
I was shocked
black hair had been cut short and so close to her
once shown be hind her gray eyes was gone, replaced by mingled grief, de spair, and
on his side?” I asked, the words
looked down at her feet, shaking
and I saw nothing but hatred. “I’ve known Carl longer than Damian. Carl was who introduced me to him… shortly after you left Dianny for the pass. Days, it was. Carl and I share the same gift I share with Hanna. He is weak, of course. These gifts… woman are just more able to harness them, more
other in the dream realm. He is older, and came into his powers first. He wanted me… wanted a
Hanna said shortly, “that’s all the Lycennians care about. Breeding, passing on
comes from nothing, not even royal blood. His wolf is aver age, at best. Your siblings are average. Your sister doesn’t possess a single drop
with Dam-” I began,
half of the moonstone, the half belonging to the White Queen. But in his haste to free the stone from the stat ue of the Goddess, the map fell from his pocket, or so the leg end goes. The White Queen at the time found it and had no choice
It had
I breathed,
piece. An an cestor of Romero, and of Troy. The map was believed lost for some time. Casimir didn’t return to Valoria; he hid in the Isles, married, had children. So on, and
told me about the night Romero died, only an hour before all hell
the pack lands to settle, to spy. The map to the tomb was their goal. They knew it was the dawn of the prophecy when Rosalie harnessed the power of the Moonlight Lily. That’s when it all began, you see. Out of the shadows they came, pretending to be a new, eastern pack to gain access to the conventional
glanced at Hanna, noticing her
does she
should I?” Tasia paced,
looked down at her
control, then. I didn’t mean to hurt him. I still don’t know how I did
like you.” Tasia laughed, shaking her head. “You have no idea what you can do,
That’s why-”
from the tree?” | whis pered, unable to
eyes, tears sliding down onto her dark lashes, “He was being mean to you. Teasing you. I was mad at him for it. I remember
back to Tasia, reaching out to take Hanna’s hand in my own, squeezing
her
At least
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