King Aldric Thornhaven's Arc

Chapter 2 of 3

Aldric let the tapestry of dark oak leaves fall back over the brass locks. His hand still buzzed with that warm hum. He turned to leave and froze. Down the hall, a tall wooden cabinet stood where none had been last week. Tiny holes were carved into its panels at servant eye-level. He walked closer and pressed his eye to one hole. Inside, on a small shelf, sat a folded cloth and a worn candle stub. Someone had been crouched in there. Someone had watched him stop at this wall every night. Whispers had already begun. A maid had asked the cook why the king walked the lower hall at midnight. If the wrong ear caught it, the door would be chained shut against him forever. He pictured a heavy stone gate, wrapped in iron links, closing on the only chance he had to free the man inside the mirror. Aldric could not let that happen. He gripped the cabinet and dragged it away from the wall. The wood scraped loud against stone. He pulled it down the corridor, past the notched marker, and shoved it into an empty storeroom. He locked the door behind it. Then he climbed the stairs and woke his steward. His voice was flat and cold. He ordered every servant barred from the lower hall after dusk. Anyone found there would be hanged. The steward bowed, pale, and ran to spread the word. Aldric returned to the tapestry alone. The hall was his now. But he had bought this silence with fresh fear, and somewhere behind the brass, the good man trapped in the mirror had just been bought a darker king.