“Are you okay?” I asked softly.
“Fine.”
“This place belongs to your family?” I prompted, wondering if our destination was the cause of his silence.
“My mother. It belonged to her family—I haven’t been here since I was a boy. Hopefully it will still be intact. It was once beautiful, but my father didn’t wish to visit after her death.”
I nodded. Perhaps this was painful for him? I didn’t want to ask—I knew it would only make him tense up and remain taciturn. If he had any feelings about the place they would come out sooner or later, in his own time.
Soon the forest did clear, opening up into wild, unkempt grassland that came up to the bellies of the bull-horses. Ahead I could see the palace—a beautiful, ornate building with towers that reached up into the sky. Where the dying light shone on it, the white of the stone dazzled, making it look as if it was carved out of glass.
“It’s incredible,” I breathed.
Tejus just grunted.
“We’re too far away to see the damage,” he replied after a while. I shot him a bemused look, but his eyes were fixed on the building and he didn’t notice. As we got closer, I saw that he was right—the palace was suffering from disuse. The ornately carved marble was stained yellow with age, and the sandstone was starting to crumble in places. But it was still beautiful, perhaps more so for its wear and tear – it made it look romantic, like something out of a fairy tale. The building was comprised of the main body of the palace, supported by four elegant towers, which I guessed were too narrow for much real use other than aesthetics. On either side of the main building were glass houses, each containing long-dead botanical gardens, with only weeds breaking through some of the glass panes. The palace didn’t have much in the way of defense—no outer wall guarded it, and only a large oak door would stand between us and intruders.
“Will we be safe here?” I asked Tejus.
“As safe as anywhere else.” He shrugged. “Hellswan castle was the best defended in the kingdom, and that didn’t make the slightest difference.”
I could see his point. It wasn’t like a moat was going to keep out the entity. I jumped off the bull-horse, eager to explore more.
“Wait for me,” Tejus instructed as he disembarked, slowly scanning the surrounding forests as he did so.
I waited impatiently, watching as Ruby and Ash and the rest of the kids started clambering off their horses, all looking toward the palace with barely concealed delight. After the grim grayness of Hellswan, it felt like we’d entered a completely different world.
“Did you like this place as a child?” I asked Tejus, probing just a little.
“It was fine.”
I wanted to laugh—was all of its charm really lost on him?
“You’re so strange.” I smiled back at him, already drifting toward the entrance.
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, nothing,” I said, knowing that I was irritating him. He started to stalk toward the palace and I joined him, idly running my hands along the grass and flowered weeds. When we reached the doorway, I paused, looking up at Tejus expectantly.
“Do you have a key?”
“At Hellswan, yes.”
“Oh.”
He smirked, walking along the columned patio. He stopped at one of the large glass windows, and started unbuttoning his shirt.
“Um, Tejus, what are you doing?” I asked, looking back at the fast-approaching group of my friends.
“Getting us in,” he replied, staring at me as he reached the final button. I started to feel a hot flush running down my back—his eyes had become dark and hooded, his smile like a private challenge.
He removed his shirt, the taut muscles of his torso still ravaged by the scar from the ghoul during the imperial trials. Twisting the material around his fist, he smashed it into the glass with one abrupt strike.
Oh.
The glass splintered with a loud crash, leaving the frame completely bare. It was large enough for Tejus to step through, and soon he’d disappeared from sight. Moments later I heard the door creak, and turned to see him standing in the entrance, still shirtless.
“Put it back on,” I tutted.
He laughed, loudly, but did as I asked.
Stepping into the main hallway, I gasped. The place was magnificent. A huge chandelier dripped down from the ceiling, where the sunset fell on it. Shafts of bright light reflected off its glass surface and covered the room in diamond-shaped dots. The floor was polished marble, leading off into three other rooms, with a large staircase sweeping down from the mezzanine above.
“This place…”
“Is impressive,” he finished, rolling his eyes.