All The King's-Men (The Yellow Hoods, #3) Read Free Page B

Let’s get some light in this place. Come on! Use your heads!” He shook his head in irritation. Within a few minutes, the house was lit up so brightly that the soldiers and captain were squinting. “Okay, okay, enough! We don’t want to burn the house down… yet,” he said, waving off a soldier readying another oil lamp.
    From the landing, a soldier made a startled noise.
    “What is it, Grimes?” asked the captain.
    “You’re not going to believe this,” said the young soldier nervously. 
    The captain raced down the steps. “You’ve got my attention, Grimes. What is it? All I see here is a door, stairs going up, and you squatting down like you lost your grandmother’s wedding ring.”
    Grimes held his torch close to the floor and wall. “See how the stairs up to the kitchen have a shadow here? That’s where you’d expect a shadow to be, right?”
    “That’s how light works, you —”
    Pointing, Grimes quickly added, “But look here, this part of the wall… its shadow is in the wrong place. I tried to touch the wall, but it’s like it’s not there.” 
    The captain stared carefully at the wall and the shadow. “You might have something.” He reached his hand out, and it went through where the wall should have been. He laughed and slapped Grimes on the back. “It’s a trompe-l’oeil! Never heard of one being in a house before. Huh, you learn something every day.”
    “A what?” said the confused soldier.
    “It’s a painted illusion, a trick for the eye. My father used to be responsible for cleaning them in the palaces of Roja. He was the only one allowed to touch them.” The captain closed his eyes and slowly slid his boot forward until he felt the edge, and then the step below. He banged his foot around. “You hear that? There are stairs going down.” He grabbed Grimes by the neck and smiled at him fiendishly. “Good work, Sergeant.”
    The soldier grinned at the sudden field promotion. 
    “Now, get in there,” said the captain, pointing at the wall. He raised his head and yelled, “You two, down here with us. The rest of you, the clock’s ticking.”
    “Captain, there’s a door down here,” yelled Grimes from some distance away. “I hear something, too.”
    The captain led the other two soldiers down the stairs carefully. At the bottom they found Grimes, who was leaning against a door with blue light emanating from under it.
    As they arrived beside him, Grimes said, “I heard voices and then a lot of weird sounds, like heavy metal moving.”
    “Okay,” whispered the captain. “Pistols and swords at the ready. When I give the order, Sergeant, throw the door wide open. You two lunkers get in there and take them by surprise. Be careful. I’m told this Klaus guy is dangerous, so be prepared for anything.”
    The team nodded. 
    “Now.”
    As the door flew open, the soldiers flooded into the room, yelling.
    The large room was lined with bookcases. There was a smoldering fire in the fireplace and two green books laying on the floor. It was otherwise empty, except for a rug, a worn couch, and a decorative chair with an ottoman.
    “Where is everyone?” asked Grimes. “I really did hear voices.”
    The captain slapped Grimes upside the head. “I bet you heard voices, Corporal. Heard voices, my eye.” He noticed one of his other soldiers turning around in a circle. “Is it time for dance lessons, Walker?”
    The soldier stopped, a puzzled expression on his face. “Where’s the light coming from? There are no shadows.”

    Christina stared up at the underside of the rug as it completed locking into place thirty feet above them. The elevator mechanism was impressive and she wished, once again, she had the time to figure out how it worked. Finally taking a breath, she put down the magnetic sticks she’d used to activate it. They’d barely made it out before the soldiers had burst in, and Christina knew it was probably just a matter of time before the men either figured