Chapter 37
Alex hummed a song under her breath to entertain herself as she bounced on the balls of her feet while following a meandering path through one of the overgrown corridors beyond the residential quarter of the palace.
There was only so much “stay put” she could handle.
Her mate’s heart was in the right place—and she snickered quietly to herself as a giddy shiver rushed through her at the reminder that he was most certainly hers now—but passing every day within the confines of a royal nest had long since exhausted its fascination for her.
She was too accustomed to being busy to be able to just lounge and enjoy the princess-treatment—such as it was.
It hardly seemed fair when Therxian was out there investigating in the thick of things.
There was no reason that she could not conduct her own investigation. And it would have the dual purpose of also giving her something to do. And it wasn’t like Therxian had expressly forbidden her from leaving the royal nest in so many words. So long as she remained safe, then no-harm, no-foul.
Besides, she was curious about the palace.
Despite the damage and disrepair in the main entry tunnel from the palace above, the elder palace appeared to be far more ornate and fashioned with far greater structural superiority.
She didn’t know architecture, but from what she saw of the residential corridor of the upper palace, she was of the opinion that it possessed a significant contrast to the elder palace.
It was almost as if it were carved out hastily from a wall of stone that possessed a weaker composite, as she hadn’t noticed any small fragments rolling from the walls of the elder palace.
Not to mention that the outer face wall of his nest and the residential corridor itself appeared to suffer enough structural weakness to require forged support beams that they attempted to blend into the décor—something noticeably absent within the elder palace despite being older.
Alex skimmed her fingers along the smooth wall that was barely visible beneath the dense overhang of galthie flowers.
Come to think of it, even the galthie flowers seemed healthier in the elder palace.
Perhaps it was because their roots were better supported by the shelf-like bands carved into the wall.
The leaves were larger, plumper in form, and brighter in pigment.
Even the size and brilliance of the flowers put those of the upper palace to shame, making them appear almost wilted by comparison.
Pausing, she ran a fingertip along one broad, glowing pink petal thoughtfully before her eyes dropped down to the stone band it rested on.
Was there also a continuous water source for them being provided?
She didn’t know how it would work but it certainly seemed plausible given their health and the fact that the sound of water never seemed to completely diminish no matter where she was in the palace.
There was just a continuous soft cadence flowing in the background.
Interesting.
She didn’t recall any sound of water in the walls of Therxian’s nest. Did that contribute to one of the major differences in the design of the palaces?
It had not taken her long to work out that the residential level in the elder palace—the royal nest and connected residential chambers—was part of the upper level, with all corridors leading downward.
Outside of the access corridor between the palaces, that was.
An access corridor that appeared to have been carved out of what once was some kind of royal garden connected to the residential area, now that she really thought about it.
Although the galthie grew thickly in the palace, no part appeared to be anywhere near as overgrown.
“Like the old solariums and health rooms in history,” she mumbled aloud.
In contrast, the upper palace appeared to have been constructed with the residential area on the ground level.
Perhaps it was because the upper palace only had a singular water resource there.
Conversely, the position of the residential chambers in the elder palace suggested that there was a downward flow of water accessed by the entire palace.
Which would certainly be another mark in favor of the elder palace in terms of superior design.
So why had it been abandoned?
And was there a collection point where the water exited the palace? It seemed that there must be.
Alex pursed her lips as she resumed her trek down the winding corridor.
If the palace was tapping a natural reservoir of water from above, relying on gravity to supply the entirety of the palace with water, it would stand to reason that somewhere there would be a visible termination point for the water where it would pool and exit.
If she were correct, then it should be at a lower level.
“Given its breadth, I will assume that this appears to be the main corridor,” she continued.
She knew it was unnecessary to talk to herself, but in the silence of the elder palace, it made her feel better.
Less alone. “I guess I will just keep following it downward. What’s the worst that could happen? ”
Perhaps not the wisest of sentiments, but her route was as uneventful as she surmised it would be.
There was no monster making a nest in one of the lower chambers.
Indeed, she had glimpsed into many chambers connected to it and even glanced down through a few of the side corridors that suddenly branched off it, and saw little more than the same quiet, slumbering shadows of the abandoned palace.
Every exquisitely carved wall, every carefully and strategically vaulted ceiling that retained the stability of the ancient palace seemed more haunted by memories of the past than by a dangerous predator.
They were lonely, glowing softly in the gentle light of the carefully spaced galthie that, despite being somewhat overgrown, seemed to maintain the quiet dignity of the spacious rooms.
“As if waiting,” she whispered.
Alex shivered. She was giving herself goosebumps. Not because it was scary, but because there was that haunting sadness that touched her profoundly.
Laughter burst from her, and she shook her head. “I never considered myself a particularly imaginative sort, and yet here we are.”
Talking to herself.
Shoving her hands into the worn pockets of her flight suit, she resumed humming, allowing the somewhat off-key musical sound to fill the empty space around her.
The corridor extended on, winding in a pattern not unlike that of a conch shell, with multiple chambers extending from it until at last it terminated at a massive and elaborately carved doorway.
Craning her head back, she peered up at the relief at its summit.
Two figures, their tails entwined in a looping pattern as they turned to face each other.
The Seshanamitesh on the right she expected, and she recognized by its wide, carved wings, but the large fins on the other gave her pause.
“What is an Uralial doing in a Seshanamitesh palace?” she murmured. “Very strange.”
Alex studied the carved pair as she drew closer, her head bending back to keep them in view as long as possible as she passed through the doorway.
When she finally lost sight of them, her gaze drifted back to what lay directly ahead of her, only to come to an abrupt stop as her mouth dropped open in awe. In a word... it was impressive.
It was a massive chamber, probably three times larger than the royal nest, with a high, cathedral ceiling that provided plenty of room for the four spouts that opened on either side of where two walls met.
There were two spouts on each side of the corner, each formed in the likeness of some kind of monstrous head of a creature she was unfamiliar with but almost dragon-like with its quasi-reptilian features.
The four waterfalls emptied into a massive, deep pool that took up most of the room except for a wide ledge that overhung it and the space where a wall was erected that extended halfway to the ceiling.
It appeared to be in the fashion of a levee from what she could tell.
What lay on the other side was a mystery from her current vantage point.
The question was—which way first? Unlike following the main corridor down, there was no singular main route to go because just within the doorway the floor branched and continued on in two directions that circled to the left and right of the pool.
To the right, it meandered around the edge of the wall and disappeared.
The left side rose into a sloping ramp that rose alongside the wall to the far ledge overlooking the pool.
She squinted at the ledge. Was it her imagination, or did there appear to be some kind of little structure up there?
Her curiosity deciding her, Alex turned in the direction of the ledge and began making the climb up the ramp.
Despite its width, the ramp climbing up to the ledge was surprisingly daunting.
Perhaps it was the lack of safety handrails as it rose higher and higher into the air and the way the rush of disturbed air from the falling water made her feel slightly off balance.
It wasn’t the height. As a pilot, she never felt anxious about being high.
It was more that she was suspended precariously with few safety measures in place that made her nervous.
Perhaps a larger Seshanamitesh wouldn’t have felt as ill-at-ease, but there were several times that she flattened herself against the wall and bent her knees to rest and re-stabilize herself before continuing on.
She was debating turning around before she lost her nerve completely and simply froze in the middle of the ramp, incapable of moving any further, when the ramp suddenly smoothed its incline before terminating at the nearest rear side of the ledge.