[Susan Delgado]

Calimiel...

The word was a whisper in their minds, faint with distance and their own life, and it brought both girls to their feet with a leap. Why would Daerohil be calling to Calimiel? They ran to the edge of the roof and peered over, into the Inner Courtyard. They looked around for the stable boy, ignoring the living folk still milling around. They didn’t see him at first, then spotted him near the stables, with some living folk trailing behind. They watched as the group filed in through the Inner Entry and turned to each other.

“What does he want? Why is Daerohil calling me?” Calimiel asked, confused. She and Daerohil had rarely spoken, and even then it was little more than a nodded greeting. Maladil’s daughter had little to say to the boy who kept the stables.

“I don’t know.” Anna glanced back over the edge, but they had already gone into the castle and out of sight.

“Let’s go find him!” Calimiel started toward the door leading downstairs and ignored Anna’s calls of, “Wait!”

“What?” Calimiel snapped when Anna overtook her and grabbed her arm.

“We can’t just go rushing down without looking. What if Celumëomaryu is down there? She’ll put us back in the cell.”

Calimiel frowned. That certainly wasn’t what she wanted. “What do we do then?”

“Same thing we did coming up here. You have to tell me if we’re getting close to her.”

Calimiel made a face. For a moment, she looked as though she would argue, but all she did was sigh and close her eyes. She moved resolutely toward the door, Anna following in her wake.

Calimiel led the way down the stairs and back out through the secret door. When they reached the stairs leading down to the second floor, she paused for a moment and stood, as if listening. “Celumëomaryu isn’t down there, although...” She opened her eyes and frowned. “She isn’t down there, but Kenelm is, and I think there’s somebody else. I can’t tell who.” She shrugged, and glanced back at Anna as she started down the stairs.

They paused just before they got to the bottom and peered around cautiously. They saw nothing, though they heard voices coming from Kenelm’s quarters. They crept into the Library, careful to keep the stacks between themselves and Kenelm’s open door. When they approached the clear space between his door and the stairs, they paused, trying to decide how they’d get downstairs without being noticed. They could still hear Daerohil’s voice calling from somewhere downstairs, coming closer even as they waited.