Chapter 14
671 Words
PENELOPE POV
I didn’t remember deciding to leave.
One moment I was standing outside the throne room, surrounded by shouting princes and terrified servants.
The next…
I was walking.
My feet carried me through the endless corridors as though the castle itself had taken control of them.
I tried to stop.
I couldn’t.
My heartbeat echoed louder than my footsteps.
What’s happening to me?
The roar beneath the castle sounded again.
This time it was softer.
Almost…
Gentle.
Like it wasn’t trying to frighten me.
It was calling me.
Every instinct screamed at me to run in the opposite direction.
Instead, I walked faster.
The walls around me changed.
The polished marble slowly disappeared beneath ancient stone.
The crimson wallpaper gave way to rough black bricks covered in strange carvings.
I brushed my fingertips across one of them.
The symbols glowed faintly beneath my touch.
Then disappeared.
I jerked my hand back.
“What is this place?”
No one answered.
Only the castle.
A cold wind swept through the corridor although there were no windows.
The candles lining the walls flickered all at once.
Left.
Right.
Left.
As if pointing the way.
I followed them.
After several minutes, I reached a massive circular door unlike anything else in the castle.
It wasn’t locked.
It had no handle.
Only one symbol carved into the center.
A raven.
Wrapped around a crown of thorns.
The moment my palm touched it…
The stone trembled.
A deep grinding sound echoed through the hallway.
The enormous door slowly opened.
My breath caught.
Beyond it wasn’t another hallway.
It was a forgotten library.
Far older than the archives in Florence.
Thousands of books lined shelves that stretched so high they disappeared into darkness.
Dust floated lazily through shafts of pale moonlight breaking through cracks in the ceiling.
In the center of the room stood a single wooden table.
Someone had been here recently.
A candle was still burning.
Beside it…
Lay a journal.
My stomach tightened.
It couldn’t be.
Slowly, I picked it up.
The leather cover was cracked with age.
On the front…
Written in faded gold letters…
Elias Thorne.
“Dad…”
My fingers trembled as I opened it.
The first page had only one sentence.
If you found this place before Julian found you… then there is still hope.
A tear rolled down my cheek.
I turned the page.
My father’s handwriting became hurried.
Messier.
As though he had written while afraid someone was watching.
Penelope… if you are reading this, then the castle has accepted you.
Listen carefully.
The House of Valerius built this castle over something they could never destroy.
They called it a monster.
They lied.
I frowned.
Another lie?
I continued reading.
The thing beneath this mountain isn’t evil.
It is a prison.
And every king since Darius has sacrificed pieces of himself to keep that prison closed.
My breathing became uneven.
The King…
Wasn’t simply sick.
He was dying because of whatever was beneath the castle.
I turned another page.
Then another.
Suddenly…
The writing stopped.
The remaining pages had been torn out.
Every single one.
“No…”
Someone had removed them.
Deliberately.
A quiet clap echoed through the library.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
I spun around.
A man stepped from between the towering bookshelves.
He looked no older than thirty.
Dark hair.
Silver eyes.
Dressed entirely in black.
He smiled politely.
“I’ve been wondering when you’d find your father’s journal.”
I instinctively stepped backward.
“Who are you?”
He bowed.
“My name is Raphael.”
He looked almost amused.
“I serve the King.”
My grip tightened around the journal.
“Then you’ve come to take it.”
“No.”
His smile widened slightly.
“I’ve come to tell you why your father tore out the last pages.”
Silence filled the room.
Then Raphael spoke the words that made my blood run cold.
“Because the final truth…”
“…was too dangerous for even you to know.”
- Writer
