Chapter 84
The next morning, I woke up feeling surprisingly rested.
After Rhaevan had apologised the previous night-though his phrasing had been characteristically questionable-I had actually slept peacefully. Either I was developing healthy coping mechanisms, or my brain had simply given up. Honestly, both possibilities were alarming.
After getting ready, I made my way downstairs. Benny the mage was already enjoying breakfast while reading a book ancient enough to have personally witnessed several wars.
"Good morning," he said cheerfully.
"Debatable," I replied, taking a seat.
He chuckled.
Rhaevan arrived a few moments later. He looked calmer than yesterday-less distant. Before my brain could start analyzing that information and creating problems where none existed, he glanced at me and nodded.
"Morning, Cassiane."
Okay, great. So we are not avoiding each other. Good.
"Morning," I greeted him back.
After breakfast, Rhaevan and I settled into Benny's study, which the old man had graciously offered us to map out our next move. The map Benny had given us lay spread across the desk between us.
I told Rhaevan everything I had overheard the previous day: the tattooed man mentioning that security had been tightened, and the woman with the painfully nasal voice insisting they move quickly. I hadn't caught the rest of their plot, but whatever it was, it warranted extra protection.
Rhaevan listened quietly, nodding occasionally. "We cannot take any chances. They must be after the relic, too. We have to be careful."
I nodded in agreement. He placed a finger on the first marked location on the map.
"I checked this place yesterday," he said. "It was an abandoned Ardentian watch post. I searched the area thoroughly. There was no concealed chamber, no unusual magic, and no sign the relic had ever been there."
"So you nearly left me behind at dawn..."
"...to investigate absolutely nothing."
His expression remained impressively calm. "The search was... unproductive."
I studied him for several long seconds. "...Did you just admit you were wrong?"
"I admitted I found nothing."
"That's the closest thing to an apology I'm ever getting, isn't it?"
He considered the question with surprising sincerity. "...Probably."
I sighed dramatically. "I'll take what I can get."
We finalized our plan to visit the second marked site today. Once we were ready, Rhaevan rolled up the map and tucked it inside his robes.
"The abandoned site is several hours away on foot. We're teleporting."
I gave him a look that made him raise an eyebrow. "You look disappointed."
"I am disappointed. I would like to officially state, for the record, that teleportation is a terrible invention."
"It saves time."
"It steals peace."
Rhaevan shook his head and extended an arm toward me. "Ready?"
No. Never. Not in this lifetime.
Even so, I stepped closer and took hold of his arm, letting his sleeve brush against my fingers. I ignored it, professionally.
"Close your eyes."
"I always do. It helps me pretend I still exist."
The world twisted. Everything folded in on itself, and my stomach lodged several formal complaints about the breakfast I had just eaten. When we finally materialized, I stumbled-not as badly as usual, but enough.
Rhaevan's hand settled lightly on my shoulder to steady me. "You alright?"
I took a slow breath. "I think so. Better than last time. I've built up resistance."
"That's not how teleportation works."
"Not with that attitude."
The corner of his mouth twitched before he turned and walked forward.
The mountain air was cold enough to make me question every decision that had led me into the middle of nowhere.
Why do ancient civilizations never consider hiding their secrets somewhere warm?
The trail climbed steadily through scrub and jagged rock.
Rhaevan slowed his pace to walk beside me, Benedict's rolled map tucked beneath his cloak.
For once, neither of us was actively avoiding the other.
It was nice-a little awkward, perhaps, but infinitely better than yesterday's spectacular misunderstanding.
As the terrain grew rougher and the path narrowed, I ran out of breath. "I'm beginning to suspect," I announced, pausing to gasp for air, "that our ancestors measured distance with entirely different legs."
"They preferred mountains. They're easier to defend."
"They're also considerably easier to complain about," I muttered.
Somewhere, Theo was probably enjoying a peaceful morning, blissfully unaware of my misery. I really needed to check the coordinates before committing to another treasure hunt.
Eventually, we reached a clearing. Built directly into the mountainside as though it had grown from the stone itself stood the weathered remains of a structure.
Even from a distance, the signs of tampering were obvious. Walls had been breached, sections of the stone floor ripped apart, and the entrance partially collapsed. Old wooden crates lay overturned near the doorway, while rusted picks and chisels rested where looters had abandoned them years ago.
The Veiled Thorn had been here, and they had dismantled the place piece by piece.
Rhaevan stopped just outside the entrance, silently studying the destruction. After a long moment, he said quietly, "This is different from yesterday. They spent much longer here."
I followed his gaze across the shattered walls and excavation trenches. "So either they were very optimistic..."
"...or they genuinely believed something was hidden here."
We stepped inside. The air was cool and stale, carrying the scent of damp stone and drifting dust illuminated by shafts of sunlight through the collapsed roof.
Whoever had searched this place had done so with terrifying precision. Large sections of stone had been cleanly chiseled away, and the floor had been pried open to expose the packed earth beneath.
Rhaevan crouched beside a damaged wall, brushing away loose dirt. "They were thorough. They checked for concealed rooms. They knew where to look-where they expected something to be."
While he continued his examination, I did my best to contribute. I poked around a few dismantled structures, discovered several spectacularly useless pieces of pottery, and nearly tripped over a rusted shovel.
I picked it up, declaring it a historically significant ancient weapon.
"Rhaevan," I called out, brandishing the tool. "I believe it belonged to a very dangerous... gardener."
He looked up briefly, maintaining a completely poker face, before returning to his investigation.
"Tough audience. I was just trying to lighten the mood," I muttered.
After another twenty minutes of officially exhausting every interesting way to inspect broken rocks, I sat on an elevated flat surface and tried to construct a miniature fort with debris. Eventually, I couldn't take the silence anymore.
"I don't think this place has anything to offer, Rhaevan. You have been meaninglessly staring at that stone for at least fifteen minutes."
He rested a hand against the weathered masonry before finally stepping back, his eyes sweeping the chamber one last time. He exhaled a long breath. "...Nothing."
I folded my arms. "I'm trying very hard not to say 'I told you so'." I looked around the ruined chamber. "So... what now?"
He walked toward the entrance, his gaze lingering on the trenches outside. "The Veiled Thorn searched every place an Ardentian architect would have concealed a relic. The foundations. The walls. The pillars. The underground vault."
He shook his head. "If anything had remained... they would have found it."
I adjusted my satchel. "So. One site yesterday. One today. And both were dead ends."
"Yes. Which means..." Rhaevan withdrew Benedict's map once more, studying the remaining markings in silence before rolling it closed. "We continue to the last marked site. To the abandoned Solithium mine."