Click.
I sit up straight on my floor nest.
The blankets fall off. Cold air hits my legs.
That click came from the closet. From the little iron door behind the clothes.
Did you hear that? I ask Lyra.
I heard, she says. She sounds awake now. Alert. The seal is old. Very old. It wants to open.
I look at the main door. It's open a crack. I can see Caelan's chair in the hall. His back is to me. Guarding.
"Caelan," I whisper.
He hears. Chair creaks. He stands. Comes to doorway. Doesn't come in.
"What?" he says. Quiet.
"That iron door. In the closet. It clicked."
He frowns. Walks in. Past the shackles still on the floor. He didn't touch them. I didn't either. They sit there like dead things.
He opens the closet. Pushes clothes aside. The little iron door is there. Rusty. Silver lock i
