The Luna Trials by Marissa Gilbert novel Chapter 7

7. The Map

They were walking in silence and Kai wanted to do more for her. He didn’t even know why. He couldn’t explain it to himself. But she looked worried and it made him unsettled too.

“So, look here,” he showed her the back door that even servants used from time to time. He remembered it well for the sole reason that it was a weakness in his castle and he made his quards do regular checks there. “You go left when entering and then you go up the stairs to your floor. You will probably find yourself in some storage room, so…”

He stopped, thinking of how to explain things to her more clearly while she looked at him with unhidden curiosity in her eyes. He shouldn’t have been doing this, but, sighing, he took his phone out of his pocket and within seconds he entered the password for his security app, scrolling through the options until he found the map of his house. The real one. The one that wasn’t shared with anyone other than his security people. He would just show her this tower and that was it. There was no way that she would remember the outline of the secret passage. It would be too short to do even when it came to simply understanding what she saw.

He started explaining to her the turns and the doors she needed to use.

“And thanks to that, you’ll be in the darkest corner of your floor. There, everything will depend on your luck,” he smiled at her.

Savannah felt lucky indeed. That gardener did not know what he was doing, showing her this precious map. But she was looking at the lines greedily, even if just for a few seconds. It was enough for that image to forever indent into her memory. She wouldn’t be able to forget it. Ever.

“Uhm, got it,” she chewed on her lip, trying not to grin wickedly. This was the best thing he could do for her. “Thanks,” she glanced at him again and noticed his eyes lingering on her mouth.

“You are welcome,” he shrugged, and she opened the door. A part of her wanted to ask his name but she knew that she was better not to. She’d better just leave and forget about what happened.

But as she took another step, he gripped her hand and spun her to face him again, crashing his lips into hers for that last taste…

It took them both longer than they realised. Savvy only managed to push him away when Kyle tried to mind link her again.

“I need to go!” she said more to herself than to him, her breathing still ragged.

The maid ran away and Kai stared at the door in front of him. It was a while since he felt this … lost. Lost in his own feelings.

He had to snap out of it and get back to what he was supposed to be doing. But before he left too, he mind linked his head guard and his sister.

“I want both of you to leave the contenders alone. No one should be on their floors now. No one should be in the tower as well.” He shut the connection, knowing that no one would dare to disobey his direct order. A little smile tugged at his lips. At least he could do something for the

little maid. Even if this had to be the end of their story.

Savannah reached the corridor that led to her room and listened, before sneaking back into her bedroom. Kyle and Zara were already gone and she let them know that she had succeeded. before taking a quick shower and going to bed.

And for the first time in a while, her mate wasn’t the one she was thinking about when she drifted off to the land of dreams.

***

“Are you sure about this?” Zara was helping with the clasp of a blue sapphire and diamond necklace, while Kyle was working on the mask. “I still think we should have gone with the golden

one.”

“Something tells me that most girls will be wearing gold since they all want to send the message that they are worthy of being queens,” Savvy smirked, looking at herself in the mirror.

They had already done her hair and now she had it up in a relaxed braided crown with a low messy bun with a few loose curls here and there. The braid was a traditional northern one and for

a very good reason.

“Shouldn’t you do the same?” Kyle gave her a reproachful look.

“Why?” she scoffed. “I don’t have to prove that I can be a queen. I am probably the only one of pure royal blood here. I need to prove something else – that I can belong here even despite being a westerner.”

“Sounds reasonable to me,” Zara sprayed something over her hair and added the last sapphire hairpin.

“This is why my dress is dusky blue,” Savvy chuckled. “In the olden days it used to be the traditional bridal dress colour in the North. They wore it with fur, but fur would be too much nowadays.’ So, that’s why I asked my seamstress to add a few feathers to finish the look instead, to create a similar effect and shape. Who knew that these would be the circumstances of me wearing that dress?! But I am happy that I thought about that before arriving here.”

“Good thing that you got their trick with the dress code,” Kyle snorted. “That was so low of them, to be honest.”

“What did you expect after they arranged all that just to get rid of me?” Savvy giggled. Somehow it was easier for her now. She had a mission, and she didn’t have to get married. Life was getting better. And in no way was it because of her kisses with the gardener. Nope, that definitely didn’t have anything to do with that.

Zara helped her to attach the mask and Savannah gave her friends the last twirl. The pale blue fabric was heavy, but the feathers were making it look like it was floating in the air. The glimmering silver sequins and beads were like little sprinkles of night stars. But what she loved the most about this off-shoulder dress was the split front that allowed her freedom of movement and gave a good view of her legs.

It was very… her.

Someone knocked on her door and Zara rushed to open it. She was wearing an elegant black dress with a large golden bird claps on her left shoulder.