The interior of the wall was exactly what Rowan had expected it to be: dark as a tomb. A hasty light spell fixed that, and the floating orb illuminated his new surroundings.

A long passage stretched forth before him, the darkness utter and complete in the stony confines of the castle. Thick-caked dust lined the floor and walls, untouched for years by the looks of things. Letting go of the breath he had been holding for the past minute, Rowan exhaled, doing his best to stay quiet. The wall looked thick, but sound carried, and he did not want to awaken anything that might have made a home in this dark place.

Taking a step forward, Rowan winced as a soft crunch rang out. A quick look at his boot revealed the source of the noise—a small skeleton, likely a rodent of some sort that had died long ago.

For a moment, Rowan considered going back the way he had come, but he abandoned that idea almost immediately. For one thing, he had no idea whether or not Morgana was waiting for him in the passage behind him, and for another… well he simply didn’t know how to get back.

The wall that had spun around to deposit him inside this tunnel was smooth rock with no extraordinary features. Opening it back up could take a considerable amount of time, if it was even something that could open at all.

However, secret passages were not unknown to Rowan. Nobles and wealthy merchants alike favoured them back in Taureen, seeming to think them impregnable and undiscoverable. Alas, many forgot that, even if they had the builders who constructed them killed, there would always be killers who liked to know why they were being paid to wet their blades. Inevitably, word got out, and the thieves of Taureen had learned how to navigate the passages hidden through bookshelves, behind walls, and within dried out wells.

The one thing that every hidden passage had in common was they were all built for a purpose, usually escape, and each and every one led somewhere. While Rowan did not know what the purpose of the tunnel he found himself in now was, so long as it was not the way that professors took when dropping off the bodies of misbehaving students, he would probably be alright. Purpose or not, the tunnel had an entrance, which meant it was time for him to find the exit.

Thus motivated, Rowan set off, keeping the sphere of light conjured in front of him as he navigated the pitch black darkness. Dust stirred around him, disturbed from its slumber by the tread of his boots, the footsteps loud in the emptiness of the tunnel.

Five minutes passed, which soon stretched to ten, the tunnel continuing to stretch out into infinity before him. Despite this, Rowan did not hurry, his gaze vigilant as he swept the tunnel for traps. More than one of his fellow thieves had died to tripwires hidden in the dust, or arrow volleys triggered by pressure plates in the floor, and he had no desire to die such an ignoble and lonely death.

At last, after roughly fifteen minutes by Rowan’s estimation, he came to the end of the tunnel. Similar to where he had entered, the wall was smooth, the stones cool to the touch. No, not just cool, Rowan realized, freezing. The cold of the stones bit into his hand, causing him to yank it away, breathing hotly upon it to induce circulation as he took in the rest of the surroundings.

Apart from the smooth stones, the only other thing of note at the end of the tunnel was a lever. There on the wall next to the smooth stones, it hung, carved in the likeness of a horned bull. Inspecting it, Rowan checked for traps, but could see no obvious ones. The rest of the area yielded nothing else either, traps or otherwise

Satisfied that there was no hidden mechanism to open the door, Rowan placed his hand on the lever and pulled gently. The lever did not budge. Frowning, Rowan pulled again, sharper this time. This time, the lever moved slightly, but only slightly. There was still no sign of anything actually happening.

I didn’t come this far to be defeated by a damn lever. Placing both hands on the lever, Rowan wrenched it downwards, the iron bull unable to resist the full weight of his body pushing down on top of it.

With the grind of rusty metal, the lever slid downwards, and at the same time, the wall in front of him began to move, the stones separating one by one, sliding to the side to reveal a small doorway and a thicket of branches.

Branches? Stooping down, Rowan pressed through the door, his hand going to the branches to separate them. As he did, a cold feeling pressed down on his head and neck, and it took all of Rowan’s strength not to yelp, instead frantically retreating as he brushed whatever it was that had landed on him off his head.

Snow. It was snow that had caused the sensation just now, Rowan realized as he stared at the white powder that glittered on the floor of the tunnel. Which meant that the reason the stones had been freezing was because the end of this passage led not into the tunnel, but outside.

Hoping that, wherever he was, it was still inside the castle, as he did not want to explain to the guards at the gate why he was outside the academy after curfew, Rowan once again forged through the small doorway. He pushed the branches aside, ignoring the snow that fell as he checked out the scene beyond the bush.

With a small sigh of relief, Rowan recognized the small courtyard he was in. It was one of the open air ones, not far from the Hafgufa dormitory. He and Dugan had spent a few afternoons here, whiling the time away under the autumn sunshine.

No such scene existed before him now, the courtyard a gleaming tapestry of white amidst the darkness.

Checking to ensure no one was nearby, Rowan crawled out from behind the bush. Behind him, the stones shifted, grinding back into place as the passage was sealed once more.

The walk back to the dormitory was quiet, and Rowan made sure to keep it that way. On more than one occasion he was forced to backtrack by the sounds of approaching footsteps, hiding in shadows or behind suits of armour as professors walked the hallways.

Several close encounters later, Rowan finally arrived back at the Draigwyn dormitory. Luckily for him, Morgana was nowhere in sight when he entered, and nor were any other students, the majority having gone home for the holidays, and the remaining smart enough to have already gone to bed.

Wearily, Rowan followed their example, kicking off his clothes and climbing under the warm covers. A lot had happened tonight, but he could process it in the morning. Right now, he needed sleep…

It was nearly noon when Rowan awoke, the sun bright outside his window. Droon was already gone, his bed neatly made as always. Rather than follow his example, Rowan left his own bed covers where they lay, abandoning them in his quest for the bathroom.

His quest complete, Rowan embarked on a new one, this time to the cafeteria for some food. The last time he had eaten had been dinner the night before, almost eighteen hours ago, and his stomach was crying out for sustenance. No longer the type to ignore the cries of an empty stomach, Rowan hurried through the halls of the academy, setting aside the matter of thinking for the moment. Hidden training and secret passages could wait; hunger was the immediate issue.

Twenty minutes and one empty plate later, Rowan departed the cafeteria, his mind finally turning to the events of last night.

So... It turned out that Morgana’s secret was that she was training privately? That was far less exciting than he had hoped, even if it was being done in a secluded room, under cover of night, and after curfew.

Despite the somewhat odd conditions she was training under, in the end, it was still just training, something completely normal at the academy. Hell, even he himself liked to train privately, away from the likes of Klou or any of the uppity nobles who sneered at his poor form or lacking technique.

While Morgana’s decision to train in solitude was slightly more puzzling, given that unlike him her technique was flawless and her abilities first rate, that was her prerogative. Had she not been sneaking out after curfew to do so, it would not be notable in the least, not like the hidden passage he had found.

The hidden passage… Now this was a big find, and Rowan’s thoughts whirled as he deliberated on the significance of his accidental discovery. Faebrook had a hidden passage in it, and if his experience with nobles was correct, then where there was one there were bound to be more. There was no doubt in his mind about that. The only real question was whether or not locating them would be worth the time and effort it would take to do.

Hmmm… Rowan drummed his fingers against his cheek, his eyes distant as he considered the matter. No matter which way he sliced it, it was hard to argue that devoting time and effort towards the locating of secret tunnels would help with his studies or training. Realistically, even his excursion last night had been time that would have been better spent catching up on sleep back in the dormitory.

However, a life purely devoted to studying was driving him stir-crazy, and it was not as if he needed to spend all his time searching for potential entrances to other corridors or tunnels. No, all he had to do was keep an eye out, maybe go for a few long walks through the academy while paying special attention to the walls, floors, and carefully positioned bookshelves, paintings, and bushes. And that really wasn’t so big an ask. In fact, he was doing it now.

Looking away from the half-clothed nymph statue that acted as the centrepiece for the fountain in the courtyard before him, Rowan’s eyes moved to the nearby bushes, then a stone frieze, and lastly a hanging tapestry, clinging tightly to the wall so that it might better conceal the secrets behind it. What were those secrets? More than likely, the same stonework that existed to either side of the tapestry, but that was for him to discover.

The tapestry’s secrets were as normal and non-descript as Rowan had imagined, and he allowed it to fall back against the wall, checking once more to make sure that no one was nearby as he contemplated what to do next.

It was obvious now that given the existence of the first passage, there was no way he could restrain himself from looking for more, and with that decision made, Rowan turned his mind towards the benefits he would gain if he decided to go through with his new plan.

As far as hidden passages went, the tunnel he had found last night was fairly pointless in its scope, merely providing a faster way to traverse from the northern side of the castle to the south. With both entrances being positioned in out of the way areas, in most cases, it would take nearly as much time to use the passage as it would to just head to his destination normally.

The real value in the passage he had found last night lay in its existence. Where there was one, there should be many, and while this one was of little use to him, others might be much more useful. It was only a matter of finding them.

Rowan smiled as he imagined the possibilities. The most obvious ones were tunnels that could take him outside the grounds of the academy. Though, given their importance and the security risks they posed, those would also be the most likely to be watched. Apart from tunnels leading outside, there should also be hidden backdoors to rooms such as the headmistress’ office, various locations throughout the academy such as the different house dormitories, and perhaps even one to the storeroom.

For safety reasons, Rowan instantly decided against searching for passages that might lead to anywhere dangerous or that he definitely should not be going to such as the headmistress’ office. Lira Kess seemed like a nice enough principal for the academy, but he had little belief in the idea that she would be pleased to see him pop up in her office unannounced and uninvited. Quite the opposite, in fact. And given her prodigious magical abilities, well, it was probably best to let that sleeping dog lie.

The same was probably true for the academy storeroom where items from dungeons and other treasures were kept. If a secret passage leading there did exist, then it was in his own best interest that he did not locate it.

The rest of the academy was fair game, however, and it was with growing excitement that Rowan found himself planning how to go about locating any other passages that may or may not exist.

The main reason to do so, he rationalized, was to find better places to hide from the likes of those such as Klou or Tianna who would do him harm. He might also be able to find shortcuts through the academy that could save him time, time which could be used for important activities such as studying or sleeping. In addition, the existence of hidden passages indicated that there might also be hidden rooms which could be used for training, hiding, or other activities.

Of course, there was another reason that Rowan did not admit but that privately fueled his desire to seek out the secrets hidden within the academy. It was fun. Even back in his street rat days, there had always been an element of pride and satisfaction involved in pulling off the perfect heist, or finding the secret safe where a merchant hid their valuables.

The prospect of locating these hidden passages and the secrets they contained gave him that same sort of thrill, even if Rowan did not want to admit it, having left those days behind him. Of course, having left those days behind did not mean that he had done the same with the skills he had learned.

It did not take a genius to realize that a lifetime spent breaking into houses, dodging security systems, and identifying hidden objects was the reason for his ability to deduce the secrets behind dungeon mechanisms. For once, Rowan was thankful towards his upbringing for providing him with at least one tool to succeed, although it probably owed him far more than that with all the shit he had been through.

Rowan shook his head to clear it of unnecessary thoughts. Now that he had decided he was going to search for secret passageways, he would naturally do so. But first he had to study. There were no shortcuts on the path of academic knowledge, and not even his skill at thieving would allow him to pluck the knowledge from the head of another. In the end, he still had to study and train hard if he wanted to succeed.

With an excited smile, Rowan left the tapestry behind as he resumed his original course towards the library. Even the prospect of studying was exciting with something fun waiting once he was done.

The next few days saw Rowan slip into a familiar pattern. In the morning, he would train, working up a sweat before taking a quick shower and heading to breakfast. Afterwards, he would study, reading books recommended to him by Kanna—a dwindling list given their current estrangement—before heading off to lunch.

After lunch, he and Droon would get together to study the materials he had trouble with, Droon having offered to help Rowan study in exchange for Rowan’s help with sparring. Despite his incredible grades, Droon as it turned out was an excellent teacher, able to pinpoint the areas Rowan was stuck on and offer advice or reasoning that would usually allow him to figure out where he had gone wrong.

With Droon’s help, Rowan found himself completing his study materials far faster than before, which gave them some free time before dinner, time he used to relax and rest in preparation for his nightly activities.

Dinner was always delicious and, speaking honestly, was Rowan’s favourite part of the day. Although Droon was not the conversationalist Dugan was, Rowan found himself enjoying the boy’s company, and the two were slowly striking up a friendship of sorts over their shared love of delicious food.

Following dinner, Rowan would take advantage of the relative emptiness of the academy after the dinner rush to wander the empty halls, poking his head into every nook and cranny while observing the walls for any signs of abnormalities. He had not forgotten the smooth sensation the first hidden passage had given him, and had returned twice to analyze it, careful to do so at times that Morgana was otherwise occupied.

Finally, he rounded off the day with a lively sparring session with Droon, both boys working hard to catch up to the other students at the academy.

In this manner, three days passed…