Chapter 684: A bit of a let down

Cass found them at the bottom of the stairs and Cass glanced around him.

He was the one who broke the silence.

"This looks like we’re inside of a dungeon." Cass said, and all three men turned to look at him.

"You think so too?" Lucian asked, sounding rather put off from the whole experience. He had seemed excited and angry to explore before, but now? Now he seemed rather upset. Cass looked around the dark space, the two lights of differing colours illuminating the space.

Lucian’s orange light, and Cass’ more whitey-blue light drifting further into the space to light up more of it.

It was the stone floors that really made Cass think it was like a dungeon, along with the stone walls. It wasn’t the magic down here or anything else that made him think it was actually a dungeon. It didn’t have the actual vibe, but Cass could tell that the others were unsettled. Clearly, they didn’t like how familiar this place felt, while Cass?

He felt at home. He knew that was a bad thing, but what could he say? He was the demon king’s son, after all. Whether he liked it or not.

"Yeah. It’s not perfect, of course, but then again, most basements in places like this would." Cass said. "They would have used the stones that would support a building of this size to make something for themselves. That’s these stones." Cass pointed out and that seemed to soothe the other men.

They weren’t idiots, of course, but it was clear the worry that a dungeon was forming under their house had filled them with more worry than sense. Cass just smiled at their foolishness.

"You’re right." Edgar muttered, running a hand over his face. "We just froze when we came around the bend and saw all this." Edgar admitted, sighing before he looked back at Cass with relief. "You don’t feel any different?" He asked, making sure. Cass chuckled.

"I don’t. I wouldn’t lie about that either. It’s the same as the rest of the manor." Cass glanced around the space, sending out a few more lights to illuminate the space and see just how large it was. He whistled. "This is a lot bigger than I thought it was." Cass admitted, looking around the space.

They were at the far end of a long, large rectangular space. The floor was stone, the walls were stone, and so was the ceiling. It was lower, so Lucian had to duck, but the space was rather impressive.

It also had several large stones scattered throughout the room that seemed to be acting as shelves or desks to hold papers and boxes. Cass was curious what they held, but what also interested him were what appeared to be three other entrances from the other side of the room. There might even be more on this side of the room but he couldn’t see them around the entrance they were in currently.

"My my, someone was busy." Cass muttered. He stepped forward, ready to enter the space when Lucian and Gideon jerked their arms out and prevented him. Cass scowled, not enjoying being stopped, but both men gave him rather serious looks.

"It could be trapped." Lucian told him and Cass rolled his eyes.

"The lights went in without any problem." Cass pointed out and Gideon nodded.

"Yes, they’re lights. They don’t have weight to them, Cass. Let Lucy and I go first. We have better and faster reaction times." Gideon told him, and told Edgar as well. Edgar wasn’t as upset that the other men were stopping them from progressing, and honestly, they came from an honest, worried place.

Cass sighed, stepping back and the two men gave a relieved sigh.

"Thank you for understanding, sweetness. We shouldn’t be long." Lucian promised, leaning in and kissing Cass on the forehead. Gideon hesitated before doing the same thing and the two men turned.

Cass crossed his arms, watching as the two men tested the ground before them while he and Edgar watched. Edgar gave a soft sigh.

"2 gold coins that nothing happening." Edgar whispered and Cass gave a loud snort.

"Unfair. I wanted to bet 10 gold coins." Cass argued quietly and Edgar sighed. He reached for Cass, wrapping his arms around his waist, resting his head on his shoulder. They watched as the two worried fools moved around the room and swept their arms as if they were trying to trigger traps.

They did that for 10 minutes before making their way back to Cass and Edgar who hadn’t moved from their position while they waited. They looked relieved that nothing appeared to be wrong and finally, Cass and Edgar were allowed to enter.

It was from there that they were able to investigate.

From the fact that the two were able to leave footprints in the dust that had settled on the stones, it was clear that no one had been here for a while. Some with the boxes and files. All of them were covered in a layer of dust that told Cass that either they were long gone, or these were set as decoys. Cass didn’t mind since any answer was an answer right now.

He’d done a purge, but it felt more like they had fled after Cass had punished the shitty stable bitch forever ago, at least, with this level of dust.

"We’re the first ones in here for a while, Cass." Lucian said, picking up on Cass’ wavelength. Cass grunted in agreement, scanning the area.

"It appears so." Cass agreed, frowning in concentration as he looked around. "Can you sense anything from the other three entrances?" Cass asked and Lucian, like the good dragon that he was, moved towards them. He took his time standing before each one, getting a full profile before coming back to the rest of the group.

Edgar was opening one of the boxes down here while Gideon was going through some of the free standing papers.

"It appears one of these goes outside. The one to the left of the room." Lucian told him and Cass didn’t find that too surprising. He considered that already.

"And these papers...whether they are decoys or not, it was clear that they were taking notes of what you were saying. They were listening in on you." Gideon said. He sounded disturbed, but Cass, again, wasn’t surprised.

"Whether Cassian knew they were listening in or not, there was a reason he acted so crazy. He probably just assumed that they were listening in on him with magic or something else." Cass muttered, frowning still. "I’m pleased that they aren’t still watching or observing me. At least, not in ways that I can tell." Cass admitted. "It’s creepy knowing that they were down here." Cass shivered and Edgar and Gideon gave him sympathetic looks.

"It is creepy." Gideon agreed, while Lucian huffed. Smoke billowed from his nostrils.

"I’m pissed that they’re gone because it means I can’t get my hands on them as easily." He admitted, annoyed. He rested his hands on his hips, his movements a little jerky to match his rage, and Cass felt his frown curl up into a smile.

"Thank you for being so angry on my behalf, but I’m not that upset. We’ll get our hands on them, and it’s not like we don’t know who was observing me. It’s the same man who is using my name to sue a supporter of mine. Which, I wonder, does he know that I’m supporting Christopher?" Cass wondered out loud.

Lucian gave a loud snort, rolling his eyes.

"I doubt it, but if he does, he’s an idiot. You really should just let me eat him." Lucian growled and Edgar groaned.

"Eat this, eat that. Is that all you think about?" Edgar huffed. Lucian turned his big, monstrous, dragon eyes towards Edgar. Silence rang out for a few beats before Lucian let out a low rumble.

"Yes. All I think about is eating. It’s a very important aspect of any life. Don’t you agree, Edgar? Besides, you don’t seem to mind when I eat." Lucian told him and Cass watched in delight as Edgar turned bright red. He sputtered, and Cass let out a tinkling laugh.

"He really likes it when anyone eats, actually." Cass added, teasing Edgar along with Lucian. Edgar tossed him a bitter look, while Gideon kept his lips shut tight. He was smiling though, but he made sure to school his face when Edgar snapped his head in his direction.

Playing it safe, hmm? Smart man.

~

It turned out that while they had come storming down here expecting a fight, nothing really came of it. The spy or spies who had been using this spot had abandoned it, probably fearing that they had been caught. Lucian was still pissed, but he was thorough with his examination of everything.

He tested all three exits, finding that the first one came out near the stables, which was annoying to Cass. The second was behind a tapestry in the servant’s quarters, which made sense to Cass, and the third? That one came out behind a tapestry in Ava’s suite.

Edgar was horrified at that realisation, while Cass thought that it made perfect sense.

His grandfather was a planner, and if he thought his grandson was a demon and he knew the layout that Cass was going to build the suites, this made perfect sense. Cassian would never have personally checked this area since it would be full of holy power.

The man was smart, Cass would give him that.

Cass easily brushed off Edgar’s concerned words, knowing that Ava had nothing to do with this. She wasn’t smart enough to do that, and they had seen how easily influenced she had been. If his grandfather had whispered in her ears, it would have been more obvious.

Like what Gideon did.

Gideon flushed at the reminder, but Cass laughed it off easily. It was a simple tease, not made in anger, just...that’s what the Dukes were like. He was trying to assure Edgar he didn’t doubt Ava, especially as they went back through the tunnels to Cass’ office.

One thing was for sure, Cass now had a huge ass chamber under his office that he could do anything with. He would just need to...decide what he wanted to do with it.

That was when Gideon brought up that the stables were close to the knight’s quarters and where he kept his weapons. If it pleased Cass, Gideon wouldn’t mind moving his weapons into the basement. That would mean he would be there often, and secretly, so if Cass needed help, that would be where he was.

Cass thought that plan was delightful, and it would help solve what doors and exits to close off too.