Wardley abruptly stood, grabbing her roughly by the shoulder. “This isn’t a game, Dinah. This isn’t us playing ‘Black Towers’ in the rose garden, ducking behind the bushes. There could be serious consequences. Do you want to lose your crown? Do you want me to lose my head?”
Dinah dropped her head with a whisper. “I know I am asking too much of you. But this is something I must do, with or without you. There is something else. The symbol on the note—the triangle made of waves? I’ve seen it before.”
With a finger, Dinah drew the symbol in the dirt-lined floor. Wardley looked at it blankly. “What is that?”
“It took me all night to remember, but I know where I’ve seen this symbol before. It’s etched in the tunnels below the palace. I remember, there were three hidden tunnels. One led to the Great Hall, one led to just outside the gates on the east side, and there was another one marked with this emblem.” She pointed to it. “Before, I thought it was a picture of a mountain—the Yurkei Mountains—a sign marking that the tunnel went in that direction. But I was wrong. It’s the symbol for the Black Towers. I think that tunnel leads into the Black Towers.”
Wardley scratched his chin, stubble already starting to grow back from that morning’s shave. “But how can we be sure?”
“We can’t.”
“And we wouldn’t know which tower Faina Baker was in to begin with.”
“That’s correct.”
Wardley now paced angrily, his boots stirring up a small dust cloud. Dinah could see that he was actively fighting his own curiosity. “How would we even get into the Great Hall? It’s guarded round the clock. Just for my amusement, let’s say we get in there, and then we use the tunnels to get in. Then what? We can’t just stroll around the Black Towers, the princess and I, out for a tour.”
“We can take care of that,” breathed Dinah. “I have a plan.”
“Let’s just say that we get in. We find Faina Baker in one of seven towers. We talk to her, have some tea, she tells us all sorts of secrets. Then what? We just stroll out onto the Iron Web? Make our way back to the tunnels?”
Dinah gave a shrug. “We have a lot to plan; I’m not saying it will be easy.”
“Easy? It’s madness. This is a suicide mission. And for what?”
Dinah raised herself up from the bench and took his arm gently. “For the future queen to have the upper hand before her coronation. For not wondering what if? For answers that have never been given to me, and never will be. For the possibility of understanding something about this place.”
“And if I lose my head?” Wardley asked.
“Then I will be very sorry,” she said. “It is a lovely head.”
She placed her hand on his cheek. She felt so near to him—his physical presence was overwhelming. She took in his hot breath washing over her face, the sweat shimmering on his brow, his curly chocolate hair pushed haphazardly back from his forehead. Without thinking, she pressed her lips against his. They were cool and soft, and hers felt warm and hungry against them. White lights exploded underneath Dinah’s eyelids and she opened her mouth slightly under his. His lips remained still as he jerked back in surprise, his hands on her shoulders.
“Dinah, I—” He didn’t have time to finish. Something moved in the darkness below. They heard the shuffling of feet, an unexplained whoosh of air. The ladder gave a wooden creak. In one rapid movement, Wardley drew his sword and pushed Dinah protectively behind him. His blade gleamed in the moonlight. “Someone’s here,” he whispered. “Don’t move. Stay behind me.”
Fear froze them both as a chill crept upon Dinah’s skin, a breath caught in her throat. Neither of them moved for several minutes, barely daring to breathe. From the darkness, the sounds of long, easy breaths drifted up the ladder. And then, just when the sound of her roaring heart was so loud she was sure it was drowning out the entire palace, the presence disappeared. The malignant air was sucked out of the room, although the feeling of being watched lingered. Dinah wondered if whoever it was had been there the entire time. Wardley replaced his sword.
“They’re gone. They couldn’t have heard us, could they?”
Dinah shook her head. Suddenly, there was a bang, and they both jumped toward each other as the doors of the Heart Chapel burst open and three Cards marched in for their nightly rounds. Dinah and Wardley ducked down into the Box to avoid being seen. She felt a rush of relief at the Cards’ presence, even though she lay on the stinking floor to avoid their gaze. Wardley looked over at her with wide eyes.
“There was someone there,” he whispered. “I heard him.”
Dinah gave a nod. Wardley gave her a look of defeat, his face coated with a fine layer of brown dust. “Fine,” he snapped. “I’ll go to the Black Towers with you, but I’m not going to enjoy it. You’re right—something is amiss. I hear whispers at the stables, and among the Cards. A Spade told me that the king fears for his life and is gathering his Cards all around him. But why?”
“You’ll go with me then?”
Wardley nodded, his ear cocked, listening to the watch. Dinah was glad to see them go, but the mortification of kissing him slowly returned now that the danger had gone.
“Wardley, I’m sorry about the—”
He cut her off. “Don’t worry about it.”
They heard the doors to the chapel slam shut, and suddenly they were alone again. Wardley grabbed her hand and yanked Dinah to her feet. “It’s time to go. Now.” They climbed quickly down the ladder, Wardley wrapping his arms around Dinah’s waist at the bottom and putting her on the ground. “Go, now. Go back to your chambers. Take the servants’ passage. We will talk about this later. Come see me at the stables tomorrow. We are not going to meet here again. Ever. I can’t believe I’m going to do this.”
Dinah didn’t need to be told twice, but she didn’t want to leave him, not while he was so upset. “Wardley, you don’t have to go to the Black Towers. I see now that I shouldn’t have asked you. But I must go. I am not a child anymore, and I need to know what is happening in my kingdom. Can you understand?”
Wardley glanced over at her like she was insane. “If you are going to be the Queen of Hearts,” he deadpanned, “you should try not to be so daft. I have no choice. If you go, I will go. You’re not as good with a sword as you think. Besides, if you die, your father will have my head one way or another. It might as well be for doing something brave.”
Dinah gave him a quick smile. “Brave? Or a fool’s errand?”
Dinah had played Wardley—she knew he could never resist an adventure. Wardley glanced around the empty room. It was silent.
“We’ll make a plan later, but we will take our time doing it. Now, go.”
She wanted to kiss him again, kiss him always, forever. But that was not happening tonight, so she picked up her skirt and ran as fast as she could to her bedchamber. It wasn’t until she lay in her bed that evening, replaying the kiss in all its awkward loveliness, the cool Wonderland breeze dancing over her skin, that she realized they had left the vial in the Box, along with a drawing in the dust of a wavy triangle. It was there alone, in the darkness, waiting to be discovered.
Exactly one month since her