Dust and Shadow
The palace was dead quiet after midnight.
Cassian held a single brass oil lamp in his left hand. His broad back blocked most of the flickering light as we moved down the dark stone corridor.
I walked right behind him in soft cloth slippers. My hand rested lightly on the hilt of my short blade beneath my dark woolen cloak.
"The archives are locked at night," Cassian whispered, pausing at a turn in the hallway. "Two heavy oak doors. Two guards posted outside."
"How do we get in without raising the alarm?" I asked in a quiet breath.
"There is a servant passage behind the tapestries," Cassian said, motioning for me to follow. "The old King used it to spy on the royal scholars."
He pulled back a heavy red velvet curtain. A narrow stone doorway stood hidden in the wall.
W
