Valentina reached the spiraling staircase that would take her to Raegar's room and descended, each step taking her deeper into the tower's lower levels. The air grew cooler, the sounds of the common room fading as stone walls closed in.
'This place is horrible,' she mused, glancing around. 'Why would he accept a place down here?'
The corridor at the tower's base stretched into dim shadows, and she exhaled softly, her mission inching closer to completion. Hearing footsteps descending the stairs, she ducked behind a potted plant, its broad leaves brushing her shoulder.
Peering through, she recognized the two boys from upstairs with the other students, the hulking giant and the ink-stained, black-haired one who entered the two nearby rooms to rest for the night.
'Maybe they're his friends, sharing this place?' she mused, suppressing a shiver as the cold stone seeped through her cloak.
