“And you think they’re stealing your people?”

“I do, Highness.”

“Thank you for the warning. How long have you and your people been on duty here?”

“Since the previous governor was killed, Highness.”

Klia turned to Zella. “Weeks in this place? Was this by your order?”

“I didn’t know what else to do,” Zella replied uneasily. “I feared if they went back to town they’d spread rumors.”

“We’ll speak more of this later.” She motioned Sedge forward. “As soon as you’ve shown us the royal chambers, I want you to get a full report from everyone who’s been on duty here.”

Sedge saluted and Alec thought he looked relieved to have something routine to look forward to.

“Anything else to report, Lieutenant?” asked Klia.

“Yes, Highness. Strange noises have been heard up around the oracle’s cave.”

“Such as?”

“Shouts, screams, moans.”

“And the weeping,” one of the soldiers added.

“Yes, the sound of a man weeping,” the lieutenant said.

“Thank you, Lieutenant. I’ll see about getting you some relief here. Speak to your people about keeping things to themselves for now.”

Klia led the way up the broad stairs to the massive double doors, and the guards pulled them open by the large brass ouroboros-shaped handles set in each one. Despite the make and size of the doors, they swung silently open with apparent ease.

Thero paused and pressed his palm to the right-hand door, forehead furrowed in concentration or pain.

“What do you feel?” asked Klia.

“Echoes of great magic,” the wizard whispered, almost reverently. “The stones are steeped in it.”

“But the Hierophants didn’t have magic, did they?” asked Alec.

“It’s believed that they didn’t until they mixed with the ’faie here, but there’s more than that. The ground itself seems to have power.”

“Perhaps that is why the first Hierophant settled here,” said Seregil.

Inside they found themselves in a huge, vaulted hall richly decorated with frescoes of forest and ocean scenes, many featuring dolphins. Soaring pillars painted in ornate designs of blue, silver, and red stood in ranks around the room. The domed ceiling was painted a dark blue and featured representations of the rising and setting suns and recognizable constellations. The floor was covered in a mosaic of a massive red dragon in flight over a walled city; it was nearly identical to the floor of the atrium at the Orëska House, but larger in scale.

“These are the original paintings,” Zella said with some pride. “Dozens of artists were enlisted to study what remained of the designs and restore them. It was truly a labor of love for the governor.”

They proceeded along a series of arched, echoing corridors, past empty rooms freshly painted in wonderful, sometimes gaudy scenes and colors. Alec thought he caught movement again, but kept it to himself.