The western wing of Vale's fortress felt different from the rest of it — older, quieter, its stone corridors lit by fewer torches than the more populated halls they'd passed through earlier, as though this particular section of the fortress had been deliberately allowed to fade into the kind of obscurity that discouraged casual visitors. Ronan led them through it with visible tension, his earlier easy confidence replaced by something more careful, more watchful.
"This is the last safe point I can walk you to," he murmured, stopping them at the mouth of a long, dim corridor. "Beyond this, if my father's household staff find you, I have no way of explaining your presence that won't end badly for all three of us."
"Understood," Kane said.
Wren's heart hammered as they moved forward alone,
