“Dead,” Nevis replied. “Along with the first.”
“We’ll explain later.” Leo headed back to the path. “Meet me in the courtyard. I’ll bring something Ana wore to help you detect her scent.”
With lightning speed, he dashed back to the keep and into the dressing room he now shared with Ana. He stuffed one of her work gowns and slippers into a knapsack, then ran back to the courtyard.
Nevis was there with Brody, back in dog form.
“Here.” Leo emptied the knapsack, and Brody sniffed at her clothing.
“Where was she last seen?” Leo asked Nevis. “We should start there.”
“The dungeons,” Nevis replied, and all three headed across the courtyard as Jensen joined them.
“Any sign of her?” Leo asked.
The guard shook his head. “I left her for only a moment in the dungeons. The jailer said she was going to the library, but she never arrived. I-I’ll accept whatever punishment you—”
“We’ll discuss it later.” Leo opened the door to the dungeons.
Brody trotted down the stairs, then wandered toward the dungeon door. He paused, then retraced his steps to the stairs.
“Did she leave?” Leo asked.
Brody turned and padded back down the corridor, this time passing the dungeon door and continuing down some steps into the darkness.
“What’s down there?” Leo asked.
“The catacombs,” Jensen replied.
“Get some torches,” Leo ordered. “We’re going in.”
* * *
By the time Luciana reached the bottom of the stairs, it felt like the narrow stone walls were closing in. Now she and her mother were inching along a dark tunnel. She’d been forced to slow down because the ceiling occasionally dipped down so low, she had to stoop to get through.
Her footsteps echoed eerily about them, along with scurrying sounds that she suspected were rats. “How much farther?”
“I’m not sure,” Ariana replied as she floated along behind her. “I never had to use this passage.”
“Can you tell me more about yourself?” Luciana asked, eager to take her mind off the rats and the prospect of her rescuers being killed in the catacombs.
“Well, let me see,” Ariana began. “After I realized I was giving birth to twin girls, we started making preparations. We sent for a midwife and wet nurse from the Isle of Moon, for we knew they would worship the twin goddesses and consider you and your sister a blessing. We knew they could be trusted to keep your existence a secret.”
“So no one else knew you were having twins?” Luciana asked.
“Not a soul. We couldn’t let anyone else know, or your lives would have been in danger.” Ariana sighed. “Everything was planned out so well. The oldest daughter would remain here as the heiress, raised by Lucas.”
“And that was Tatiana.”
“Yes. And the second daughter, you, would travel with me to the Isle of Moon, where I would raise you in secret.”
Luciana halted and looked back at her mother. “You were planning to go with me?”
Ariana smiled. “Yes, my dear. Your father and I couldn’t bear the thought of either of you being raised without a loving parent, so—”
“You were going to separate?”
Ariana nodded. “It was the only way.”
“But you and Father love each other so much,” Luciana protested.
“We didn’t arrive at that solution easily. The thought of separating was heart-wrenching—”
“Mother, I’m so sorry.”
“My dear child.” Ariana reached out to touch Luciana’s cheek, but her fingers passed through like a cold shiver. “Someday you will have children, and you’ll understand. There was nothing we were not willing to bear in order to give you and your sister the love you deserved. I’m just so sorry that I—”
“No, don’t say that. You gave your life for us.”
Ariana nodded slowly. “If only I had foreseen the lightning.”
“What?”
Ariana motioned toward the darkness in front of them. “We must keep going. I’ll tell you what happened.”
Luciana continued along the tunnel as she listened to her mother’s story.
“I was in the tower room, sewing baby clothes, about a week before you were due, when a storm began. The rain was coming in the windows a bit, but I thought it best to stay there rather than run back to the keep in the rain when I was so heavy. Everything was fine until a light flashed outside the window overlooking the sea, and a streak of lightning shot straight through.”
Luciana glanced back at her mother. “That’s what left the scorched mark on the wall?”
“Yes. Unfortunately, the lightning splintered and a shard struck me—”
“You were hit?” Luciana whipped around.
Ariana nodded. “Knocked unconscious. When I came to, I realized my water had broken and my labor had begun. When the storm finally stopped, Lucas found me in bed, having contractions. He immediately brought in the midwife and nurse. Tatiana and you were born that night.”
“When the twin moons embraced.”
“Yes. We knew, then, that you would also be Embraced, so you were both in great danger. Unfortunately, the lightning strike had left me extremely weak—”
“It was a wonder it didn’t kill you,” Luciana said.
Ariana smiled sadly. “It did, eventually. But you and Tatiana survived. I was so heartbroken when I realized I would not be making the trip to the Isle of Moon with you.”