Obviously, Cain was right about not being the only Wanderer with a hunch about this room. My bones buzz with dread. Suddenly I feel like I’m in one of Amelia’s horror movies, lost in an abandoned place while some furious assailant chases after us.

Turning back to the secret room, I see it’s more like a large closet. I also realize it has a second back door, one that appears to lead to the rear of the inn.

“Chase, that exit,” Amelia says, on the same page. “We can use it to sneak out.”

“If we go inside and close the painting-door behind us, it’ll buy us some time,” Cain adds. “No one has ever found that hidden button before, so we should be safe hiding in there.”

I breathe a sigh of relief, because this is a huge break. The feeling quickly fades, however, as we enter the secret room. Suddenly the idea of trapping ourselves in a cramped, dark room with a total stranger doesn’t feel quite as comforting.

But the moment to change our minds vanishes as Cain closes the door behind us with a quiet click. The tiny room goes dark, so Cain sparks his lighter to life. Looking around, I find the walls are painted a deep maroon color and trimmed with sand-colored molding. Abstract brown lines cover the walls, a mural pattern of wands that wraps around everything. I wonder if every room in the inn has a back exit foyer like this, or if Perilli somehow had this one custom-built behind the painting trapdoor.

The only other thing in this room rests on the floor: a clear container. Crouching down, we see there are phrases painted across it, in a neat and lean font:

Perspective is all that matters.

If you learn to master your perspective, you unlock personal power.

To give birth to the new self, you must set your former self ablaze.

And shed a light that leads the way for others.

Could this message have been left behind by Perilli himself? This thought burns away, however, when we all see what this clear container holds. Inside lies a face-down card, printed with the same back design as our own deck.

I look up and see Cain first, hovering over the container with tears in his eyes, reflecting the little flame flickering.

“I can’t believe I really found one,” he whispers in awe.

Amelia appears equally awed beside him. Not wasting another moment, she then reaches to open the container. As she unearths Perilli’s first lost card, an involuntary chill shivers through me. We may not know everything about the true origins of the deck yet, but we’ve always appreciated its power and beauty. Amelia must be feeling this also, because tears shimmer in her own eyes as she takes in the long-lost Prince of Wands.