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“Geez,” said Roman.

‘Oh, and on top of all that, the nightrock still repels pests like all of Stasya’s “normal” stone does. So, yeah. It’s good shit, okay? You’re gonna like living here.’

‘Okay,’ said Garovel. ‘I believe you. Were there any other reasons why you wanted us to take Warrenhold?’

And Voreese fell quiet a moment. She looked across her audience again. ‘Well, I guess you’re gonna find it sooner or later.’

‘Find what?’

‘I’ll show you. I was gonna give you a tour, anyway.’ She floated off toward the underground entrance.

Hector gathered up the surveying team again. He did what Voreese told him earlier and tried to explain that the mysterious anxiety was merely a byproduct of pest control.

It took a while.

They weren’t particularly receptive to the idea that mere stone could magically influence people. Hector had to remind them that they were talking to someone who could make metal appear from nowhere. Then he had to reassure them that he wasn’t going to hurt them. Roman tried to help him out but just ended up confusing things more, because no one knew who he was or why they should listen to him.

Eventually, though, they made it underground again. Voreese led the expedition to the network of bridges that connected all eight towers near their peaks. With more light bearers around, Hector realized that in addition to all the crisscrossing paths, there wasn’t just one solid ring of bridges--there were actually three, stacked on top of each other with adjoining staircases intermittently. Much of the uppermost ring was embedded in natural rock, but occasionally, there was an opening that allowed for an incredible view of the greater cavern area.

Hector was a bit concerned that the bridges were unsafe to use, but Voreese assured him that they had lines of nightrock supporting them beneath the otherwise normal stone and were therefore quite sturdy even after all this time.

She rattled off all sorts of information as they made their way toward the Tower of Night. Apparently, the castle had been too large for pretty much everyone who ever owned it after Stasya. Hector was not surprised.