Chapter 85

After Beryl left with Master Aldus, Lyra ventured towards the main palace building alone. Unlike before, she came across more guards on the patrol, all of them moving briskly. She realised they must be looking for her and Zero and Anna. That made it riskier to make progress towards the palace, but she finally managed to get there undetected. She approached from the back and went in through a window. She thought about where the secret passages could be located. Julian's suite and his office seemed to be the most likely locations. But since Aldus had mentioned that there were several of them, they could also be in areas such as the study room, the library, or even a lounge room. Deciding that Julian's bedroom was the most likely location, she started there. She made it to the upper floor using the service stairway, which was thankfully deserted. There were no guards in the hallway, and when she got to Julian's room, she found the door unlocked. Stepping inside quickly, she shut it behind