Chapter 3-3

“Follow me,” said X, and he opened the door, slipping out into the dark corridor. “No light is necessary. We're just going to the ministry of resources.” He knew the way well, as he had been leading the duke to the ministry once every couple days for the last year or two now, ever since the duke became obsessed with finding an heir.

The Duke checked the room one last time and followed X out into the corridor, grabbing a dagger on the way out.

They made their way through the dark corridors, and went down a stairwell that was illuminated by a single torch in a metal bracket. They went down to the bottom level, and they stepped out into the main hall of the castle. The large oaken main double doors, open during the day, were closed and bolted shut. There were no guards stationed there at night. The watch would be in the guard room off to the right of the door. The ceiling was high with beams going from one side of the hall to the other. There were colorful banners hung from these, the duke's sign as well as the flag of Alger. At the back of the hall a gigantic suit of armor stood. It was about 8 feet tall, and 3 feet wide. It had supposedly been used by some famous knight long ago, but no one believed that myth anymore. Along either side at frequent intervals there were doors that would lead to chambers off the side. In between the doors were white marble statues of famous people. Over all the statues were torches that were constantly lit, even during the day. They were fueled by magic, so they had to be replaced once a month, instead of every day. These were surrounded by vases of flowers. All of the doors in the hall were closed save one, all the way at the back end of the hall.