Read Online Wulfyddia (The Tattersall Trilogy Book 1) by Steele Alexandra - Free Book Online Page B

remained undisturbed for many years. “This is probably where the prison
guards used to stay,” Lorna surmised, looking from the long abandoned cots to
the cold hearth and the rickety, dusty old table. The stools were all toppled
over, as were a few old crates and barrels.
    “Well,
it seems the beast is not at home.” Spencer observed drily. “Hopefully we’ll
find a hiding place before it gets back.”
    They
spread out in the little chamber, but Spencer had trouble concentrating on the
task at hand. The air smelled like decay, and he was chilled to the bone. “Why
not here?” Lorna suggested. She gestured to an old wine barrel, now long since
empty and smelling faintly of old hay. It was dry, though, and hopefully with
the lid on the barrel, the rats wouldn’t be able to get to the book.
    “I like
it.” Daphne seemed pleased that her idea had proved fruitful. “It should be
undisturbed here.” She handed Spencer the torch and then stowed the book at the
bottom of the barrel. They stood there staring down at it for some time, before
Daphne reached back into her mass of curls and withdrew something thin and
sharp.
    “What is that?”
    “Hair pin,” Daphne held it up in front of his
face. “We’re taking a blood oath.”
    “Not another one,” Lorna sighed.
    “What for?” Spencer asked.
    Daphne took a deep breath and closed her
eyes. “I, Daphne Lucretius, Princess of the Realm, do hereby swear to keep this
book a secret and let it remain here undisturbed for as long as I live. Now you
say it,” she said, opening one eye to glare at them. Spencer and Lorna
dutifully repeated their lines with equally low levels of enthusiasm.
    Daphne pricked her own finger without
hesitation, and then lunged for her sister’s hand before Lorna could sit on it.
When his turn came, Spencer offered his hand quickly before she could accuse
him of cowardice. The pin flashed once in the torchlight, then was lost to the
gloom as Daphne reached for him. She gripped his hand at the wrist, and he
braced himself, but somehow the pin point on the pad of his finger still came
as a shock. He stifled a hiss at the bite of the metal, and then they were
grasping hands over the candle flame, and there was a strange air of gravity.
The smiles were wiped from the sisters’ faces, and their eyes were wide and
almost fearful.
    “It must
remain here forever,” Daphne whispered, leaning forward so that her face was
lit by the darting flames of the torch. She certainly played to an audience,
that one. Across from Daphne, Lorna seemed to be tolerating her sister’s
behavior with the kind of long-suffering acceptance characteristic of younger
siblings. After enough time had passed in suitable solemnity, Daphne allowed
them to rise from their knees. “Our secret forever,” Daphne murmured in hushed
tones as they backed their way out of the dungeon. Spencer rolled his eyes at
her theatrics and closed the doors behind them, hoping that this really was the
end of the matter. He longed for a quiet night of uninterrupted sleep.
    ***
    “Spencer?”
His mother’s voice greeted him immediately upon his return to the Haligorn.
    “Hello.”
Spencer couldn’t quite keep his weariness out of his voice. He felt
unexpectedly exhausted after his encounter with Daphne and Lorna, brief as it
had been. Perhaps it was the atmosphere down in the dungeons that had drained
his energy and left him feeling tired and out of sorts.
     “Are
you alright?” Spencer’s mother held a hand to his head thoughtfully, as though
expecting to find him feverish. Abigail Tattersall was a tall and wiry woman,
steady of temperament and stronger than she appeared at first glance. Her hair
was the same blonde as Spencer’s, but her eyes were a warm brown, and she had
the smile of a much younger woman. Now, however, she was frowning. They had lost
Spencer’s father to a fever just eighteen months previously, and neither of
them took illness lightly anymore.
    He
shrugged away