Unlike the rest of the castle, this area was blatantly devoid of marble or fluted columns. And there wasn’t one fresco to be found. Instead the area had been dug out of the hard bedrock of the ocean floor.
The only concession to comfort was the thickly padded chairs that framed the long table and the fairy lights that danced near the low ceiling. They spilled a warm, golden glow over the room that softened the stark severity. The tang of salt was thick in the air.
Stepping through the door, Troy easily located Jord. The merman was standing at the front of the room, where a large map hung on the wall. He was gesturing to various locations as he spoke to the four guards who were seated at the table.
Jord cut off his words as he noticed Troy strolling toward him, a scowl on his face.
“Are you lost?” he demanded.
Troy flashed a smile. The one that he’d perfected to cause maximum annoyance.
“Ah, just the little fishy I was looking for,” he drawled, halting just a few feet from the merman. “We need to speak.” He sent a glance toward the younger guards. “Alone.”
With a flattering haste, the guards jumped out of their seats and scurried toward the door. It was no secret that Troy had the ear of the queen. Obviously they didn’t want to piss him off.
Jord, on the other hand, looked like he wanted to skewer Troy with his trident.
“I’m busy,” the male snapped. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re attempting to locate the missing prisoner.”
“Oh, I noticed.” Troy lifted his hand to inspect his polished nails. “You’re certainly making a good show of searching.”
“Show?” Jord took an impulsive step forward. A strategic mistake. Troy was at least three inches taller than the merman. It made it all the easier to tower over him. “What are you implying?”
“If you must know, I find it curious that you were so reluctant to ignore your fellow guard’s warning.”
“What guard?”
“Riza,” Troy reminded the male. “He insisted that there was something strange happening with Brigette, but you refused to believe him. In fact, if I remember correctly—and I always remember correctly—you tried to prevent him from sharing his concern with the queen.”
“Oh.” The guard shrugged. “Riza is young and has a wild imagination.”
A convenient excuse, Troy silently acknowledged. “Why do you say that?”
“He swore that he’d seen a real-life kraken, even though they’re a myth. And a few weeks ago he was convinced that he’d seen a strange shimmer in the air.”
“Where?”
Jord waved an impatient hand. “It was always moving from place to place. Once it was in the ballroom. The next time he claimed to see it in the kitchens.”
Troy narrowed his eyes. They’d seen a shimmer in the throne room just seconds before the portal had appeared. Did that mean Zella had been moving the portal around, waiting for an opportunity to rescue Brigette? Or maybe some other creature had created the portal. Or just as likely, this male was lying.
Deciding to play the game, Troy arched a brow. “You do know that was probably the portal used by Brigette to escape?” he pointed out. “Which only proves you should have listened to the male.”
“I couldn’t know that.” Jord acted offended. “It sounded crazy.”
“Hmm.” Troy polished his nails on his shirt, his expression one of deep skepticism.
The merman instinctively grabbed the hilt of his trident strapped around his waist.
“Is that all?”
“How did you know that Brigette wasn’t in her cell?”
Jord paused, clearly caught off guard by the question. “Excuse me?”
“You ran into the throne room announcing that the prisoner had escaped,” Troy clarified. “How did you know?”
“It was time for me to go on duty.” Jord tapped his foot, as if to emphasize his impatience. “When I went down to the dungeons, I discovered the two outer guards were unconscious.”
“Then what?”
“I unlocked the door to the inner dungeon and found Riza on the floor.”
“He was unconscious?”
“Yes.”
Troy tried to imagine what’d happened. Had the attacker come from inside the dungeon? Or from outside? At last he shook his head.
“Who could overpower three armed guards?”
“It must have been some sort of spell.” The explanation was smooth. Too smooth. As if it’d been rehearsed.
Troy held the guard’s gaze, allowing him to see the ruthless hunter beneath his frivolous exterior.
“I thought it was impossible to use magic in the dungeon?”
Something that might have been irritation flared through the male’s blue eyes. Obviously, he assumed that Troy would be oblivious to the dampening spell that