can’t afford to lose an ally. It’s imperative we aid Couve. Will you trust me?”
“Yes, okay,” I said with a shaky voice.
“Good.” He let go of my face. “Remember, keep mum about the sword exchange.”
I nodded, placing my hand to my cheek where his had been.
When we joined the others, Bastien met my gaze. His eyes were almost the color of blue ink on white paper. I absentmindedly rubbed at my throbbing scar. “You’re bleeding,” he said. The tender concern on his face made me speechless. Why did this guy seem to care so much when he didn’t even know me?
“It’s not her blood,” Arik lied for me, walking between us and blocking my view of Bastien. “Let’s be on our way.”
We entered Couve through a secret door behind an antique card catalogue. The tunnel was the same as Asile’s—dark, damp, and musty. Golf carts, tethered to outlets in the wall, waited at the bottom of the stairwell.
I hopped into the front passenger seat of the last golf cart with Demos and Sinead. It was a tight fit. If I reached my arm out, I could touch the wall racing by.
“Hey, there’s only room for one cart in here,” I hollered over the revving engine. “What happens if another one comes from the other side?”
“We die,” Demos shouted from the driver’s seat around a wide grin.
I rolled my eyes. “Seriously?”
“Did you see the red and green lights above the tunnel as we entered?” Sinead said from the back seat. “The lights let the driver know if he can go through or not.”
“Oh.” I hadn’t seen them. I glanced up at the ceiling on our next turn. There were two square lights, and, thankfully, the green one was lit.
The carts buzzed around corners for nearly an hour before the tunnel came to a wide cavern. We stopped at another staircase and plugged the carts back in. The narrow steps were slimy underfoot, so I grabbed on to the railing going up. We stepped into an outbuilding identical to the one in Asile and went through the door.
The castle of Couve sat on the bank of a large lake. The salt-white walls gleamed in the setting sun, its reflection twinkling on the water. Moss crept over a retaining wall surrounding it. We pushed through the gate and walked the narrow cobbled streets snaking through the tiny village at its base.
Bastien’s aristocratic demeanor was gone. His shoulders sagged with the sorrow of his father’s death.
Small gatherings of people lined the interior walls of the castle. People crowded each room off the foyer, and many sat on the wide stairway that led to the upper floors. Bastien moved into the crowd. When the somber people noticed him, they gave him compassionate smiles or whispered their sympathy as he passed by, and his shoulders drooped even more. I wanted to ease his pain, but the closer he got to the entrance, the faster he moved, and I couldn’t catch him.
Bastien returned each smile given him with a warm one. His hand gently patted each person he passed. Witnessing the love his people had for him, despite his anguish, made me admire his bravery. I would have been a slobbering mess, but he spared time for a nod or quiet word.
The crowd slowed him, enabling me to reach his side. He looked down at me, and a faint smile pressed at the corners of his mouth. We ascended the stairs together. Everyone else kept a respectful distance, but I saw him as someone in pain, and I wanted to be there for him. I knew how horrible it was to lose a parent.
We crossed a catwalk and headed toward a closed door. It unnerved me to catch Arik’s tortured eyes on us through the railing of the banister. Was he jealous? The confusion in my heart flipped my stomach.
I tore my gaze away from Arik and focused on the door ahead. Bastien turned the knob and pushed the heavy door open. I stopped, and he turned to face me.
“I’ll wait for you here,” I said.
“You don’t have to. You could go with the others.”
“No, I want to. I’ll stay.” I gave him a warm smile.
He nodded. As he closed the door, I caught a glimpse of a woman with a regal posture kneeling beside a body stretched across a low table and draped with a sheer cover. Candles flickered dim light across her face. She brightened slightly after spotting Bastien.
“Mon cher fils,” she said, grabbing the