The Vampire King's Possession
Chapter 361. Hidden Passageway

Chapter 361: 361. Hidden Passageway

"Don’t you need light?" Galath asked as they went behind the stairs.

"I suppose I do," Mauve replied, realizing that she was still holding onto Galath. She let go of him and he grabbed the lamp from the wall.

There were no guards in sight but this was the ground floor, she was sure they weren’t far away. There was no rule that said she could use the secret passageway, however, she was sure not a lot of people knew about it.

She walked in front of him and went behind the staircase, she didn’t need light. She knew how to find the hidden pathway with her eyes closed.

Behind the staircase was a wall. She placed her palm over the bricks, she moved it around looking for the loose tile. It took a while to find, it must be because she hadn’t used it in a while.

"What are you doing?" Galath asked, she could hear the mix between astonishment and concern in his voice.

"Just a moment," she said. "Aha! Found it."

The double clicked the tile and the stone began to separate. She turned to look at Galath and his surprised expression made her chuckle a little.

Mauve was immediately hit by a musty smell as the bricks moved back to show a path. She winced, instantly regretting this but she had already gone too far. She took a step in and turned to see Galath was still standing by the entrance.

"Quick, get in," she said. He said something she couldn’t hear and walked in just as the door started to close.

The musty smell got even worse at the closed door and Mauve had to breath through her mouth just to ease the awful smell.

"It smells awful here and very damp." Galath snorted, blowing air out of his nose as he tried to ease the uncomfortable feeling. The musty air was definitely affecting him.

"Yeah, people rarely use this path."

"For good reason too," he replied with a cough.

"Sorry, let’s move. It would only take a few minutes."

Mauve took a step forward and was greeted by cobwebs. Her face had slammed right into it. If she did think this was a bad idea, she did now.

She yelped trying to pull it away from her face. She heard Galath sigh and heard him move. He brushed against her and she opened her eyes to see him in front of her.

"I will stay in front."

She nodded without arguing. He was tall enough that she would have to worry about insects but the path was probably crawling with different types of insects.

"Straight ahead."

"I figured."

The pathway wasn’t big enough for two people to walk comfortably side by side but it wasn’t a tight fit either. There were walls on both sides.

He used his free hand to grab her wrist. "Sorry, princess but this is easier than turning around to look at you each time."

"I don’t mind," she replied. Besides, he was going along with her half thought of a plan.

They walked for a few seconds and Galath suddenly stopped. She bumped into him and pulled back, rubbing her head.

"What happened?"

"There is another path here," he replied.

"Just keep going straight," she couldn’t see past his back. His huge frame completely covered it.

"Where does that lead to?" He asked as he started walking again.

"Further into the castle," the path began to curve and Mauve knew they were close to the exit.

"Really?"

"Yeah, most of the rooms in the castle..." she paused, realizing that maybe she shouldn’t give this information away. "Nevermind."

She wasn’t really worried, she had spent years trying to figure out the paths and had gotten lost several times than she could count.

"A dead end," Galath announced as he stopped walking.

"Let me through," she said to him.

He stood aside to the wall so there was enough space for her to pass in front of him. She did the same hand movement on the wall and soon found what she was looking for.

A soft click could be heard as the mechanism undid and the brick wall slid to the side. It was followed by a shout of terror and Mauve saw a guard standing directly in front of them.

"Aaaahhh," the guard stepped back, lifting up the lamp he held. It was Owen. Mauve almost laughed out loud.

Mauve couldn’t even blame him for his reaction, she would act the same way if the wall in front of her suddenly flew open.

"Sir Galath!" He yelled out as he recognized him. "What are you doing here? You scared me, I thought you were guarding inside the castle. I didn’t know there’s a route here. Is that the princess? What is going on?"

He took a step closer squinting in his eyes as he tried to see. "Hello Owen," she smiled at him.

"Princess! What are you doing Sir Galath?" Owen asked with a horrified expression on his face. "It’s past midnight, she should be resting. Where are you taking her to?"

Owen looked at Galath with an accusatory look on his face. Mauve wasn’t sure what he was accusing Galath of but she could see that whatever it was, it wasn’t good.

"Yes I guess you’re patrolling. Keep on the good work and forget you saw anything." Galath replied.

"That’s even more suspicious, Sir Galath."

"Princess," he said, looking down at her. "Is he making you do anything you don’t want to?"

"I am your superior, Owen."

"Doesn’t mean I won’t stop you when you are about to commit a grave sun against the kingdom."

"What grave sin?" Galath asked with an amused tone.

Mauve laughed, "Quite the contrary. I am the one pulling him along with my whims. He didn’t want me roaming the castle walls alone but for some reason, I can’t sleep."

"Oh, okay." He replied and leaned back. "However, if he is making you say that. Let me know."

"What are you talking about, Owen? Get back to work."