Read Online Heroes Return by Moira J. Moore - Free Book Online

bedchamber. I stepped into it to see a wall made of bookshelves swing open. Fiona and Dane stepped in, Fiona carrying two cloth sacks and Dane burdened with arms full of books.
    A secret passage. It was like something out of a book. I hadn’t thought anyone actually had them.
    “We got this just in time,” Fiona said. “They’ve already started searching the servants’ quarters.”
    This was such a bad idea. “Where can we hide them?”
    “Watch me.” She headed straight to the fireplace. “Come see what I’m doing.” Taro and I stood next to her. I watched her grab hold of a small iron cube set into the back of the overmantel. She pulled it out, revealing it to be an iron bar about a hand in length. She put it on the floor, and then she pulled off the front of the overmantel, revealing that it was hollow.
    That was kind of interesting.
    Dane started packing the books within the overmantel. Fiona began pulling items out of the bags. Black candles, slim knives with white or black handles, sticks of incense, lengths of bone, the kitchen guardian, one really disgusting bundle of black hair. Once everything was packed in, the front of the overmantel was locked back into place.
    Looking at the overmantel from the front or the sides, it didn’t look like it could come apart. At least, not to me, but I wasn’t an expert. Maybe criminals hid things in such a way all the time.
    “Thank you again,” Fiona whispered, and she and Dane disappeared back behind the wall.
    “Did you know about the secret passages?” I asked Taro.
    He shook his head.
    I sat in a settee close to the door to the corridor. Taro paced. We waited for the Guards to show up.
    The heavy knock on the door sounded just under an hour later. I jumped to my feet and stood beside Taro when he opened the door.
    “You’re not coming in here,” he told the Guards.
    “Stand aside,” the First Lieutenant ordered.
    “No.”
    “We are under the orders of the Emperor.”
    They were Imperial Guards. They were always under the orders of the Emperor.
    “Once we moved in here,” said Taro, “these rooms came under the control of the Triple S. The Emperor has no jurisdiction here.”
    “You can’t just take a room and treat it as a separate property.”
    “Watch me.”
    “Stand aside. Now.”
    Taro crossed his arms. “You’re going to have to move us.”
    I didn’t think daring them to lay hands on us was the greatest idea, but the Guards were clearly reluctant to do so. That was interesting.
    “Are you in possession of paraphernalia related to the attempt to cast spells?”
    “Of course not!” Taro sounded thoroughly scandalized. He really was a good actor.
    “Then why don’t you want us to look?”
    “Because you have no right to, and this whole incident is offensive.”
    “Stand aside.”
    “I will not.”
    There was a heavy silence as Taro and the First Lieutenant settled into a staring contest. I had no doubt who would win. Taro had faced much scarier people than an Imperial Guard. I looked at the other three Guards, a woman and two men. The woman and one of the men were watching expressionlessly. The other man seemed to find his own feet more interesting.
    “The Emperor will hear of this,” the First Lieutenant threatened.
    “Send him my regards,” Taro answered lightly before closing the door in the Lieutenant’s face.
    I took a deep breath. That had been tense. And it wasn’t over yet. The Guards hadn’t said how long they would stay. What if someone told them everything had been hidden in our rooms?
    We’d have to deal with that if and when it happened. In the meantime, I wouldn’t be able to relax until they were gone. Not the best state to be in at a new post.

Chapter Five
    The next morning, Taro and I enjoyed our breakfast in the main-floor sitting room. It consisted of fruit, bread, fish and an amazing egg mixture that included cheese and herbs. Fiona clearly had an excellent cook. I was embarrassed by how much I ate, but