"Every great house has its secrets. The trick is knowing which ones to dig up."
***
The service corridor behind the Onyx dormitory hadn't seen maintenance in decades. Maybe longer.
Moss crept along the stone walls like green veins. Spread in patterns that suggested no groundskeeper had bothered with this passage since before my father was born. The air hung heavy with the smell of decay and forgotten spaces. That particular mustiness that only accumulated in places the world had decided to ignore.
I led Lyra through the narrow passage. Ducked beneath low-hanging pipes that dripped condensation onto the cracked flagstones below. Water had pooled in the uneven stones. Created miniature lakes that reflected our lamplight back at us in fragmented pieces.
The ceiling pressed close overhead. Forced me to hunch my shoulders in a way that would have been uncomfortable if I weren't already so accustomed to making myself small.
