Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
His brief conversation with Fedra replayed in Marcus’s head all the way to the atrium. He picked apart every word, noting the inflections. He recalled every subtle movement—or lack thereof.
By the time he entered the atrium and strode down the corridor, he was no closer to figuring anything out.
His footsteps echoed on the now-spotless floor.
There were scrapes and grooves in both it and the wall from where the ceiling had fallen—indelible evidence that would forever remind him of the effort he had used to reach not just the chamber but Fedra.
Marcus halted at the chamber’s entrance. Not even the toe of his boot crossed the threshold. He scanned the room, letting his eyes wander over the writing on the wall before moving to the console, and finally landing on the stasis pod.
Ryder popped up from the other side of the chamber. “There you are.”
Marcus grunted in greeting, but still didn’t step inside.
“What’s going on in that head of yours?” Ryder asked as he leaned a hand on the pod.
Marcus met his friend’s hazel gaze. “What’s your take on this room?”
“My expertise lies in technology. It’s advanced, but I’ve already worked out some of it. The rest, I’ll get to soon. But that’s no’ what you want to know, is it? You want to know if I think the city’s founders built it. I wish I could give you a definitive answer, but I can no’.”
“I expected that. I still wanted your opinion.” Marcus finally lifted his foot and crossed into the room.
Ryder straightened and walked around the pod to stand in front of him. “You need to get to the bones of the room to get that answer. Luckily, I thought ahead and have already begun dismantling the console. I was surprised to discover that it took little effort to unscrew it from the wall.”
Marcus frowned at the news, but what worried him more was Ryder’s obvious unease. “I was there helping you install everything in your control room at Dreagan.”
“Exactly. I know you thought I went overboard then, anchoring everything double, but you have to take precautions with technology. This,” Ryder said, motioning to the console, “seems to have been put in hastily.”
“As if they didna have the tools? Or didna have much time?”
Ryder crossed his arms over his chest and faced the console. “If I had to guess, I’d say they were in a hurry. Now, whether that was out of fear because someone was coming for them or whether they were no’ supposed to be here is still undetermined.”
Another question he had no answer for. “Fedra wasna that forthcoming with anything. It will take some skill to pry it out of her.”
“Then it’s a good thing you have a connection with her, because you used to be pretty good at that.”
“That was a long time ago.”
Ryder made a sound in the back of his throat and shifted to look at him. “Some things remain with us forever. You can no’ deny you always had a knack for knowing how to get answers out of humans.”
“I’ll be here, learning the truth of this chamber. Con and the others can get Fedra to talk.”
“Shall we get started then?” Ryder asked.
Marcus closed his eyes and leaned his head to the side as he opened his hearing.
He was able to pick up sounds from every direction in the city.
He heard Sian in her workroom, talking to one of the children.
He heard Varek and Merrill playing chess in the east wing.
He heard Shaw and Alastair training several floors below him.
“She really did hear all of us,” he murmured, opening his eyes.
Ryder grunted. “I wonder how long it would have taken us to notice if Teo hadna commented on it.”
“There are plenty of rooms in the city where Fedra could’ve been placed. This one isna just far from the entrance, it’s also in an area that isna easy to get to.”
“Are you wondering if they hid her?”
Marcus shook his head. “I’m thinking they chose this chamber specifically because it amplifies the goings-on in Iron Hall.”
“If that’s the case, then whoever did this wanted her to hear us.”
“And why she was in such a rush to be freed.” Marcus twisted his lips. “She asked me how long we had been in the city. I told her it was difficult to say.”
Ryder dropped his arms to his sides. “If she heard us, then she was also aware of the time when no one was here. I doona suppose she told you how long she’s been locked in the pod.”
“She didna. The answers are here, though. I’ll find them.”
“Con wants her gone. He doesna trust her, and I agree with him.”
Marcus considered that for a moment before he grunted. “The longer she’s here, the faster we’ll be able to uncover her true motives.”
“It’s risky.”
“Letting her go is even riskier.”
Ryder walked to the console and stared down at it. “You’ll have a better time convincing everyone of that if we can get answers about this room.”
There was no more talk as Marcus helped Ryder dismantle the console, piece by piece, and move it out of the chamber and into the atrium.
The pod was more difficult because of all the wires running under the floor.
While Ryder worked on that, Marcus turned his attention to the floor.
It was the same level as the hallway. If they hadn’t expected that the technology might come from someone else, he would’ve never thought anything was wrong with the chamber.
But now it had his attention. And with that came his discerning eye. He studied every slab of rock. At first glance, it looked as meticulous as the rest of the city. Upon closer inspection, however, it became clear that whoever had laid the stones had lacked the true skill of Iron Hall’s builders.
“We can move this now,” Ryder said, breaking into his thoughts.
Marcus straightened and helped his friend take the stasis pod out. Ryder hurried back into the chamber and immediately went to the large hole in the floor, where the pod had rested and hidden all the wiring. Marcus stopped beside him and peered into the opening.
Ryder glanced at him. “You doona seem surprised to find another layer of flooring.”
“I’m no’.”
“I’ll need to remove it in order to get the wiring that runs to where the console was.”
Marcus released a breath. “We should tackle the walls first.”
“Where do we even start? We could try to bust through, but I worry we might damage what’s behind it.”
“We need to find a crack.”
Ryder swung his head to him. “A crack? I see a few.”
“It has to be the right one,” Marcus said as he walked the perimeter, studying each fissure.
Once he reached the wall, he lightly ran his fingers over each crack, feeling them as well as looking for more. He moved from wall to wall. It wasn’t until he was on the same wall as the doorway that he found it. He halted and closed his eyes, running his fingers slowly up and down the slit.
His ability allowed him to see through the stone to determine where to begin their excavation safely.
Bit by bit, he examined the stone until he found the right spot.
Marcus froze and opened his eyes to look where he had stopped.
Only then did he allow a small amount of magic to burst from his hand.
Dust blew back at him, and a heartbeat later, more fissures spread from the point of his finger.
He used more magic to slowly and carefully create another crack upward.
The moment it reached the ceiling, he halted.
Next, he turned his hand slightly to the right and repeated the process, then did it to the left.
Marcus dug his fingers into the widened cracks and lifted away a large section of rock without anything falling on him.
“I’ll stack them outside,” Ryder said, taking the stone from Marcus.
One by one, Marcus pulled them away from the wall, and Ryder took them out of the chamber. It didn’t take long for them to clear away that first wall before moving around the room.
Ryder dusted off his hands as he returned from taking out the last stone. “Look how much bigger the room is now.”
The wall stones were five inches thick and considerably shrank the room once erected.
“I doona understand why they put up another wall. Why no’ use what was already here?” Ryder asked.
Marcus looked at the blank walls. “I’m as curious as you. There was no reason for them to cover it up as far as I can see.”
“Maybe we’ll know once we get the floor removed.”
With the false walls gone, it was easier to take up the false floor.
Marcus was cautious not just in the removal, but also in stacking the stones in one of the other rooms. There might not be anything there, but he wanted to thoroughly investigate the rock used to create the second floor and the walls.
If those who had constructed the chamber had gone to so much trouble to mark the walls, there might be more to find.
They first cleared a path for Ryder to get to all the wiring. While Ryder was gathering all of that, Marcus finished the flooring. Then, once it was all removed, they cleaned everything.
“A sunken room,” Ryder said from beside him as they stood in the doorway.
Everything about the chamber looked plain, yet the room had been painstakingly created. Not only that, it also branched off from the atrium, as if the points of the star on the ceiling directed everyone there.
Marcus walked down the two steps into the chamber and stood in the middle of the room. He turned in a circle, looking around him with an architect’s eye. He saw the small stone raised slightly near the steps.
“Step on that,” Marcus directed Ryder as he pointed to it.
Ryder entered the chamber and pressed the stone with the toe of his boot. There was a grinding noise, and as dust and dirt rained down, a door lowered from the ceiling near the entry, sealing them in.
“Tell me you expected that,” Ryder said calmly as he turned to face him.
Marcus grinned. “I suspected. There’s no outside noise now. Listen.”
They both grew quiet. In the silence, the voices from around the city reached them clearly, as if those they heard were standing right next to them.
“This is amazing,” Ryder said, his voice a whisper.
“It is, but why have such a room in the first place?”
“We doona even know who built Iron Hall. I doubt you’ll get an answer to that.”
Marcus sighed. “In every area I’ve explored in the city, I learned that it was designed and built with purpose.
That means, this room is the same. Maybe Fedra was put here so she could hear what was going on.
Or maybe that was just a benefit. Maybe this chamber was chosen for another reason altogether. ”
“The tech might be able to reveal some more secrets. I’ll get to the bottom of it. Perhaps something I discover can be used to pry information out of her.”
“Maybe.”
Marcus reluctantly left the chamber with Ryder, but he wasn’t done with it. He wouldn’t rest until he knew what it had been built for.