Moon Born

Chapter 38

The castle and its grounds had never been so silent. Even the horses were quiet in their stalls. We slowly walked through the stables, looking for any sign of life or the creatures. Andrew motioned for his scouts again, whispering to them. There was furious head shaking before they returned to their spots.

"What did they say?" King Orsand asked.

"When they scouted the area they saw nobody."

"Not a single person?" Edmond asked.

Andrew shook his head.

"Where did everyone go?" Ashley questioned.

"I don't know. This is very odd."

We continued around the side of the stable and into the castle. A strong, metallic smell assaulted our nostrils almost immediately. 

"Oh, what is that?" I asked, covering my nose.

"That's blood," Andrew said softly. "And a lot of it."

"What should we prepare ourselves for?" Ashley asked quietly.

"I honestly don't know," Andrew answered. "Just keep your eyes open."

Andrew motioned with hands to the warrior group, who broke off into groups and ventured down other corridors in the castle. I took a few steps closer to Edmond as we moved to the ancient part of the castle. The rooms looked identical as the last time I had seen them. The last room though was one we hadn't checked. The door was locked before and the keys Edmond had didn't work.

King Orsand turned the handle and the door creaked open.

"That was locked last time we were here."

"Really?" King Orsand asked.

I nodded. 

We entered the room, shocked at how clean it was.

"It looks like someone has been living here."

"How bizarre."

"Nobody ever comes back here though," King Orsand said. "Nobody should be living back here."

I walked around, looking at everything laying around. Books were stacked on a table near the window and the bedding was disheveled. I ran my hand along one of the walls, surprised that there were no cobwebs like every other room in this section of the castle. As I walked, my fingers ran along a small bump on the paneling. It wasn't very noticeable to look at, but there was something there. It felt off from the rest of the wall. 

"Hey, come here," I said to nobody in particular. 

"What?" Ashley asked as everyone gathered around. 

"Feel this."

"The wall?" Alastair questioned.

"Yeah. It feels weird."

King Orsand ran his hand over the paneling and stepped back. "Odd."

They all felt the weird bump under the wood and stared at it.

"What if it's a button?" Ashley suggested.

"A button?"

"Yeah, like a hidden doorway or something. Is that possible?"

"It is, but there was nothing about a secret passage this far back into the castle."

"What if it was kept off the maps that you have? And someone else knows about it?"

"That's possible. Let's push the button and see what happens," King Orsand said.

We all looked at each other, wondering who would be the brave soul to find out what actually happened if we pushed that particular panel.