The monks embraced the sunlight and they’d installed long mirror pipes throughout the monastery to bring the light from the surface to the depths. Warm golden light shone in the area set aside for visitors. It appeared they weren’t expecting visitors this sun jump, as normally a couple monks stood guard in here, ensuring no one wandered into private areas or tried to enter one of the four Rooms of Knowledge. They protected knowledge like a miser hoarding coins. Shyla never understood why. Everyone should have equal access, but you had to be a monk to enter those rooms—with one exception. She was allowed to enter two.

Once she regained some of her strength, she headed down to Hanif’s office on level eleven. She used the look away command on the few people she encountered. Influencing one person seemed easy compared to the twelve on the surface.

Hanif’s door was ajar. She’d never seen it closed. Voices drifted from the opening. The conversation went from an undecipherable murmur to clear speech as she neared. She stopped outside, debating whether she should wait here or retreat to give her father some privacy. As she backed away, she caught a snippet of the discussion.

“…Water Prince is not pleased,” said a familiar male voice.

She froze and tried to place the voice. Its deep timbre stirred fear in her heart.

“It’s not my concern if the Water Prince is pleased or not,” Hanif said.

“It should be. Especially if he decides to withhold your water rations.”

“The King would not be pleased by your threat, Captain.”

Clamping a hand over her mouth, Shyla blocked her gasp. Captain Yates! The man who had replaced Rendor as the prince’s captain of the guard. What was he doing here?

“By the time the King learns of your hardship, it will be too late,” Yates said. “Just tell us where the sun-kissed is and we’ll stop bothering you.”

“For the fifth time, Captain, I do not know where she it.”

“I do not believe you,” Yates said.

An irritated sigh. “You’re welcome to search the monastery. If you find her, we will not interfere.”

Four

What colossally bad timing. Shyla needed to leave the monastery right away. Except she didn’t have a great deal of energy. Avoiding the captain as he searched shouldn’t be too difficult, but she needed to stay hidden from everyone so they didn’t have to lie about knowing her location.

“You’ll allow us to search the Rooms of Knowledge?” Yates asked.

“No. They are off-limits, but you can look everywhere else,” Hanif replied.

“That’s ridiculous. She could be hiding in one of them.”

“She isn’t.”

“I can’t take your word for it.”