Cessilia frowned, but stepped in, helping Naptunie behind her. They each took a candle too.
“They don’t have tall people, these Cheshi?” groaned Darsan behind them, who had to twist his shoulders a bit to get in.
Luckily for him, the space got larger as they went down. Cessilia was still in awe. They were clearly in a tunnel. Not only that, but a well-maintained one. The steps were made of stone and quite old, but they were only moving ridiculous amounts of dust. There were no traces of spiders or any bugs in there. The passage was also dug large enough to let someone of Darsan’s width go through easily. There were even little mirrors strangely carved into the walls, and Cessilia quickly understood they were meant to help spread the light from their candles inside the tunnels. For a while, none of them said a word. Cessilia could feel Nana walking very close to her, probably a bit worried, and from time to time, they heard Darsan grumble and complain about the uneven ceiling above them. She was even more intrigued by the fact that they kept going down.
Suddenly, the steps stopped, and they found themselves in a flat tunnel, going two ways: left or right.
“The right one takes us to the castle,” said Aglithia, “but I don’t recommend we go there today, it would be risky to be found on the other end. The Yekara have seized control of the castle.”
“Is th-this how the t-triplets had followed us t-too?”
“Yes,” nodded Aglithia. “They had orders that at least one of them should remain with you at all times. Not that you needed protection, but we thought it would be better to keep an eye on you... that’s how we learned what had happened. They warned us as soon as they realized the Royal Guards were preparing for a fight...”
That explained how Aglithia had appeared so soon at Bastat’s safehouse...
“These tunnels...” muttered Nana. “How are they possible? If I’m right, right now... we’re under Soura’s bed!”
“That’s right,” nodded Aglithia. “See, the Soura wasn’t always such a big river, nor this high. Centuries ago, this tunnel was one of many bridges on the ground level... but as the river began to get higher and higher, it had to be reinforced. So now, it is a tunnel all but the Cheshi Clan have forgotten about. So, we made sure to keep it safe, and use it for our clan’s needs. Not too often, of course...”
“So you guys really are spies,” said Darsan. “I thought so. Your steps barely make any noise, and you’re skinny but not weak. I knew it!”
“We have several specialties,” Aglithia answered with a smile. “Collecting information is one of them... It might even be our greatest strength.”
“If you know so m-much,” said Cessilia, “I w-wonder why you never g-got involved before such t-terrible things happened.”
“...Things are sometimes more complex than they seem,” she sighed, “even in just one clan. But you’ll understand a lot more soon. We’re almost there...”
Indeed, stairs had appeared ahead leading upward. Cessilia had also tried to do a bit of math in her head, and she was sure they had walked farther than the bridge’s length, far above their heads. This tunnel was impressive, considering how long it was and the pressure of the water that came from above. How many more did the Cheshi have, hidden like this? They probably had dozens of secret locations scattered in the Capital as well...
“Watch your heads...”
Aglithia began to climb up without warning. To their surprise, the way up was much shorter than when they had climbed down. Natural light finally spilled in, but this time, they stepped inside what looked like a cave. They came through a normal door, although it was simply hidden by a heavy tapestry. Coming out seconds after Aglithia, Cessilia took note of the many, many shelves of stored food around them. There were hundreds of pots filled with grains, herbs, dried meat, and even some oils, from the smell.
“This is the winter food storage room of our main residence,” smiled Aglithia.
“I was expecting a better concealment for this door,” Darsan raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, don’t worry. We have security measures just in case this secret tunnel is found. We can have it collapse in just seconds if it’s ever compromised.”
Nana and Darsan both shuddered. To think the long tunnel they had just come out of could have crumbled over them was terrifying...
“Come on. I’ll take you to our Clan Leader. He’s expecting you... To be honest, we all are. It’s our first time meeting Dragon Masters in centuries.”
“...D-did you know about J-Jisel’s dragon?”
“No. We had suspicions, but she kept it hidden well until yesterday. We had only found traces of that dragon up until now.”
She didn’t sound like she was lying.
Aglithia took them out of the storage room, and to Cessilia’s surprise, they stepped into a courtyard very much like the ones in the Dragon Empire’s Imperial Palace. The architecture was strikingly similar, although it was on a smaller scale. Darsan seemed to have noticed too, his dark eyes looking all around in surprise.
“Th-this place...”
“Feels like home?” chuckled Aglithia. “I figured it would. You’ll understand in a moment.”
She made them walk past several rooms that looked like two studies, a library, another storage room, and a residential area. Finally, she knocked on a door, and stepped in right away.
They walked into a large, round room. It was an office, still mostly lit by several candles, with two people standing at the large desk and a big window behind them. On their left was an enormous bookcase, filled with dozens of old books, parchments, and all sorts of papers that were rolled or piled up. There was even a table in front of them with a tray holding a large teapot, and a couple of roughly drafted maps. What caught their eyes first, though, was the large fireplace with a strange work of art above it. It was held on little metallic pins and incomplete, but both Cessilia and Darsan immediately recognized the skeleton of a baby dragon.
“Oh, finally.”
The people behind the desk raised their eyes from the document they were looking at. They were obviously related, their facial features so similar they could even have passed for siblings. The woman was obviously much older, though. She had gorgeous white hair arranged in two buns and the rest of it falling down to her waist. The man had his hair cut much shorter, with a side of it shaved clean. Both of them were covered in those unique dots and line tattoos like Aglithia, and wore similar leather clothes. The woman wore a lot of jewelry, though, mostly stones, and around her neck, a thin silver chain with a unique dragon tooth as a pendant.
“Morning greetings,” said Aglithia, stepping aside. “Princess Cessilia, Lady Naptunie, and...”
“Darsan.”
“Prince Darsan, let me introduce you to my father, Lord Marau our Clan Leader, and my dear grandmother, Elder Olea.”
“It is an honor to meet you,” said the old lady, immediately stepping forward.
To their surprise, this elder bowed to them, her striking blue eyes glistening with tears. Behind her, her son did the same, although he didn’t look as moved and was more closed off. His bow was shorter, and when he stood back up, his eyes seemed cold.
“Welcome to the Cheshi Clan,” he said. “I am sorry we did not get to meet earlier, Prince, Princess.”
Cessilia nodded, a bit perplexed. She hadn’t seen people react like this to her in a long while. She was also confused by this whole room and the atmosphere. Aglithia stepped forward, facing her father’s cold stare. Either she was used to it, or she didn’t care at all.
“Father. Did you think about my request this morning?”
