Chapter 16 · Ash Ledger - Chapter 16: The Second Book Below the Wall

"They're already down there." Bram's voice came through the crack in the stone before Mara even reached the cellar door.

She stopped. Rowan was half a step behind her, still carrying the burn marks from the vault fire, and he put one hand on the doorframe to steady himself.

"Who?" Mara asked.

"Ilan's men. Two of them. They went in through the old drainage gap maybe ten minutes ago."

Rowan's jaw tightened. "You didn't stop them?"

"With what?" Bram pushed the door open from the inside. His face was pale, and there was dried blood on his knuckles. "I'm a quartermaster. I count boots. I don't fight soldiers."

Mara stepped past him into the narrow corridor. The air smelled like wet stone and old iron. Somewhere below, she could hear voices, low and careful.

"How many vaults are under this fort?" she asked.

Rowan moved up beside her. "I thought there was just one."

"Then you thought wrong." Bram pulled a lantern off the wall and handed it to her. "The first vault's the one you opened. The second one's older. Deeper. And if Ilan's opening it now, it's because he knows what's inside."

Mara took the lantern.