Page 34 of Lady's Steed
Josslyn reached and pushed, jumping back as the shelving unit full of books shifted, causing the fireplace set to rattle. She snared it and dragged it out of the way before it fell. She poked her head in the opening. “I see a pinprick of light.”
“It’s the spyholes. Not all of them have covers over them.”
“Meaning people could be watching and listening?” Josslyn turned wide eyes on her.
“Yes. There’s quite a few actually.” Then because Avera needed a distraction, “Would you like to see them?”
Josslyn glanced at the office door. “Should we bring your bodyguards?”
“And have them tell Gustav?” Avera shook her head. “I’ve got my dagger. Besides, Gustav has had knights sweeping the tunnels at random.”
“Making them not so secret anymore.”
“I guess. Maybe it would be better to seal them.”
“Not today. Let’s go for a peek. I’ve always wanted to go on an adventure.”
Trekking through a tight and dark passageway hardly seemed to count and yet Avera found herself more intrigued than expected. She grabbed a lantern and lit it before entering, the light illuminating the stone walls of the narrow passage. They walked until they reached an intersection with the left section sloping upwards.
“Which way?” Josslyn whispered.
“Up leads to the royal chambers. To the right there are more choices, like the throne room and cellar as well as the small receiving parlor.”
“And they all have spyholes?”
“According to Gustav, yes, but let’s go see for ourselves.”
Indeed, each chamber the tunnels passed had a small aperture, some uncovered if a bit high, made for taller people. Other holes had bolts embedded above them from which hung slim discs of wood that could be slid aside to spy. They glanced through each one, observing the palace staff at work, chattering about their lives as they did. Avera blushed when a glance into a receiving room showed a pawn and a housemaid in a torrid embrace.
Josslyn whispered, “He’s well endowed.”
A comment that only made Avera’s cheeks hotter.
They ended up following a ramp downward. It was a long stretch of seamless stone with no holes for spying and finished in a wall with one last peeking slot and a door that had a newly set bar across it.
Avera held up the lantern. “Seems we’ve reached the end.”
“Let’s see what’s on the other side.” Josslyn slid the wooden shield and put an eye to the hole and announced, “Cellar. A rather empty one at that. I’ll see to it that it’s filled promptly.” She let the cover drop back in place just as they heard a voice.
“Couldn’t we have met in a tavern?” grumbled a man.
Josslyn leaned close to whisper, “That sounds like Admiral Venne.”
Avera’s brows rose. Why would Admiral Venne be meeting someone in the cellar?
“Given how things turned out, it’s best we keep out of the public eye.” The speakers neared their hiding spot inside the wall and the women held still rather than fleeing. While Averaknew eavesdropping was wrong, she couldn’t deny a certain naughty thrill and curiosity.
“I can’t believe she appointed a woman as duke,” Venne stated with clear disgust.
“We won’t have to deal with her for long. The pieces are almost in place.”
The voice… the familiarity had her frowning. Who could it be? She went to move the wooden cover to peek, but Josslyn put a hand on her arm and shook her head pointing to the lantern. The light might give them away.
Josslyn handled it by tucking it under her shawl and giving her a nod.
A deep breath and Avera pressed her eye to the hole to see who spoke but only saw a broad back partially concealed behind some stacked casks.
“Smart idea framing the duke,” Venne stated.