A/N: Hey, sorry for not posting last week. I got so caught up in everything that it totally just slipped my mind—these last few weeks of school have been really stressful (end of the school year), but I should be back consistently all summer. Since I missed last week, I'll post chapter 38 tomorrow.

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Just Sweep It Under the Rug

Chaol flopped down on his bed with a groan. That had been an interesting meeting. What was with the king? Sure, the man had always seemed a bit iffy—he had, after all, slaughtered millions—but this was something different. This was a problem in the middle of his own court and he was refusing to do anything about it.

Was it fear? Did he not want to get involved because he was worried about being the next target?

Or, did he think that by ignoring the problem, he could make it go away altogether, the way that teenagers did with homework?

Or, did he, perhaps, have something to do with it? Could the king do that? Murder members of his own court? Sabotage his own government in a ploy to… what? Gain more power?

No, don't be silly, Chaol told himself. The king loves his subjects, even if he is a power hungry maniac.

But was it really so far from believable? After everything the King of Adarlan had done, could Chaol really not believe that perhaps that man had gone behind the scenes to get rid of the people he disliked, people who had wronged him?

Chaol wasn't sure of any of it.

But then, maybe it was just him being twitchy. The king probably was just worried and didn't want things getting out to the public to worry everyone else.

Chaol rubbed his face. It had been such a long day.

He felt like this job was just becoming more and more about guarding the king's secrets—not about guarding the people—now he wasn't even going to be able to keep working on what he wanted to be working on. What we wanted to be working on was catching the lunatic killing everyone, wanted to stop what was going on so that people would be safe, but now the king wouldn't even allow him to do that. He was expected to just lock people's lips and seal the gateways to the castle and keep people from knowing things that at some point they really should know.

Maybe I should go to the library, or outside to get some fresh air. I've been cooped up all day doing work.

And that was that—the rest of Chaol's night was decided. Of course, there wasn't much of it left—it was already 11:00.

I have no free time anymore, he thought as he started to walk to the library. But that's alright. I like what I do, so I shouldn't complain. And it's not like I'd have free time if I was still a lord, either.

As he pushed open the door to the library, he began to wonder if perhaps Dorian was there. They hadn't talked in a little while and he was wondering how the boy was doing after his breakup with Rosa.

Dorian always seemed to have way more free time than Chaol did, which was curious, but Chaol was pretty sure it was because the prince liked to ditch his responsibilities in favor of reading.

The poor kid was so bright and kind, and would make a great king some day, but Chaol was worried that he'd hate it. He had never been meant for a life like that. But it wasn't something that Dorian could escape the way Chaol had—at least not without giving the crown to his little brother, but that would have disastrous results.

Chaol was still pondering Dorian's future life as he wandered through the isles. He came to the back of the library, a spot that few people ever ventured anymore, and decided to see what sort of books he could find. He'd read most of the ones in the earlier sections of the library—just because he had no free time now didn't mean he'd never had any free time.

He flipped through a book with no title on the binding, and discovered why it had been hidden back here—it seemed to contain spells. He glanced around him, making sure that no one had seen, and shoved it back onto the shelf.

As he turned to leave, his foot brushed against something on the floor, the metal tip of his boot causing a soft clunking sound. It was as though whatever was beneath there was hollow.

He knelt down and knocked on the floor. It was definitely hollow under there.

Chaol frowned slightly. That was not on the castle blueprints. He knew because he'd spent hours studying them, trying to figure out how the killer was getting in.

He paused, glancing around him. There was no one there. Then he looked back down at the floor.

He knew he shouldn't, but his curiosity got the better of him. He felt around the the rug on the floor. He lifted it up, wondering, an ominous feeling building, and underneath there was a faint line through the wood.

Chaol tossed the rug all the way back and ran his fingers over the edge. He gave a small push on it and felt the large panel creak beneath his fingers. There was a small divot on one edge that was only an inch or so wide. He decided to push it—because what else would he do?

From the edges of the panel began to seep a blackness that was utter and complete. But a few spots of wood remained untouched. Those spots slowly began to become more defined, as though they were making themselves clearer, and morphed in color from the dull brown of the wood to an electric blue that cast an eerie glow across Chaol's face.

He froze. Whatever this was, it wasn't something he should be messing with, and it certainly wasn't supposed to be in the palace—especially since it seemed to have some form of magic in it.

The odd symbols seemed glow more intensely as Chaol stared at them, and he felt as though they were pulsing. He took a step back. He should get out of here.

The air around Chaol was beginning to cool, and so he decided that perhaps he should stop whatever was going on.

Unfortunately, being someone that had never done—or even seen—magic, he had no idea what to do, so he grabbed the rug and threw it over the door-like sheet of wood.

There was a brief gust of wind, and then the temperature returned to normal. The black at the edges of the rug faded, and the light shining through it vanished.

He needed to show Dorian this. Whatever it was, he wasn't sure what to do about it, and he was had a feeling that Dorian would.

Chapter Release Date: June 2, 2018