Reign of Shadows - Deborah Chester [37]
Double sets of doors on either side of a tiny vestibule led outside. The inner doors served as insulators during the cold months. Caelan grasped the bolt and tried to slide it back as slowly and as quietly as possible.
The doors rattled softly from a gust of wind outdoors. He could feel a cold draft of air leaking in around them. It would be easier to go back to his warm bed, but he wasn’t going to let a bitter, snowy night stop him.
A movement whispering against his ankles made his heart shoot into his throat. Gasping, he turned and saw the green eyes of the cat glowing up at him in silent inquiry.
“You,” he whispered, sagging in relief.
Purring, the cat butted its head against his leg and rubbed. Then it stared at the door.
“Go away,” he said. “You can’t go outside. You’ll give me away.”
The cat didn’t budge. When he eased open the inner door, the cat shot over his leg before he could hold it back. Cursing under his breath, Caelan groped around the dimly illuminated vestibule, bumping his head into the collection of cloaks hanging on pegs, and finally grasped the cat’s soft middle.
He scooped it up, although it twisted furiously, and thrust it back into the receiving room. It shot back into the vestibule before he could shut the door and let out an angry meow.
“Ssh!”
Its tail lashed back and forth angrily, and it planted itself at the outer doors.
Caelan sighed. He was going to lose this contest of wills. Besides, there were worse things to deal with than a cat on the prowl. He stared up at the warding key hanging on the outer doors. It was glowing and active.
Outside, the wind howled and shrieked against the corners of the house. Caelan shivered.
Pulling one of the chisels from his pocket, he reached up to pry the warding key off the door.
It was hot enough to nearly scorch him even without touching it.
Gritting his teeth, he touched it with the chisel. A horrible smell filled the air, and the chisel flew from his hand. It hit the wall and fell with a clatter on the floor.
Caelan froze a moment, listening, but no one stirred or raised an inquiry. He bent to pick up the chisel and saw that the thick steel blade had been melted and twisted into a new shape. It was completely ruined.
Caelan’s heart sank. How was he going to explain to Farns?
He wasn’t. The chisel would be dropped down the well, never to be found. No explanation. No lies. Nothing at all.
The warding key had to be removed or he couldn’t get outside. If he waited for daylight, he would be seen and his father would hear about it.
It was like being imprisoned. Caelan was tired of the fear every night that kept people locked indoors. He would just have to remove this key the same way he’d done it at Rieschelhold.
But trying to enter severance when he wasn’t desperate and wasn’t angry did not seem to work. He concentrated without much luck and couldn’t find a focus point.
Sighing, he leaned against the wall with the cat rubbing figure eights between his ankles and tried to pull himself together.
It had to be done. That was all.
Grimacing, he shut his eyes and focused on the warding key, channeling all his thoughts, fears, and frustrations toward it. He threw everything at it, hating it, wanting to drown it in all that he faced. If he could just find a center... he made the warding key his center until everything began to twist and rush through him in the altered state of severance.
When he felt the coldness sear through him, he opened his eyes and reached for the key.
When he gripped it, the key went dark and ceased to glow. There was no heat this time to burn his hand, yet Caelan released it almost immediately. It dropped onto a pile of cloaks he’d thrown on the floor for the purpose, and the cloth did not burn. Caelan knelt over it and picked up the triangular piece of metal gingerly.
His caution was unnecessary. The key lay quiet and cold on his palm, its spell gone.
Hoping he had not ruined it, Caelan tucked it in his pocket for safekeeping, then unbolted the doors. The cat scooted outside, and then he himself stood in the snow-lashed