Leo placed the paper and ink on the side table. “If we are staying together there is little point in me drawing a plan.” He turned to Ivana. “Is this the only room on this level?”
Ivana nodded. “Yes, but as I spend every night in here, I think I would know if Nikolai had hidden anything in this room.”
Leo agreed. He imagined Nikolai would hide it somewhere obscure. In a place where few people had need to venture. “Are there four floors including this one?” Even though he had been a guest at the castle for a few days, he had spent most of his time in Ivana’s bedchamber.
Ivana muttered a few words as she counted on her fingers. “Five if you include the dungeon. But it is just a row of single cells. There are no furnishings, no pictures or distinguishing marks on the wall.”
“It could be concealed behind a loose block of stone,” Alexander offered, “although I imagine it’s rather dank down there.”
Elliot cleared his throat. “I would expect the bottle or vial to be kept in a vault or a chest. Such a fragile item could not be left open to the elements. Surely Nikolai would not risk it being broken or contaminated.”
“I know it is not the same,” Evelyn said eagerly. “But my aunt once bought me a small selection of perfumes. The tiny glass bottles were kept in a small padded case. Perhaps the cure is stored in something similar.”
“I have never seen anything of that description in any of the rooms,” Ivana mused.
Leo turned to face her. He stroked her cheek, fought the urge to claim her mouth. “Where would you hide the cure if you were Nikolai?”
Ivana smiled in response to his affectionate gesture as she considered his question. “Nikolai has not been back to the castle for years. There are certain rooms that are used daily, and I would be surprised if he had stored it in there. The elixir is important to him. So much so, he would have killed us all to prevent us from discovering more about it. If I had the cure, I would hide it in a place no one knows exists.”
Leo narrowed his gaze. “Do you mean somewhere like a secret vault or chamber?”
“Many castles and old houses have hidden rooms,” Alexander said. “I have seen priest holes behind oak panels, secret corridors behind bookcases, a concealed flight of stairs leading down to God only knows where.”
Grace spoke up. “Has there ever been any mention of a secret room? Often you hear tales of such things in the village, stories that have been passed down through generations.”
“I have heard mention of previous owners.” Ivana nodded. “One of them was thought to have been obsessed with witchcraft. I was warned there may be charred bones buried in the crypt, told I may experience terrifying nightmares. But due to the nature of our affliction, I have never paid it much heed.”
Leo pursed his lips. Nikolai said he had inherited the castle from a friend, a man of some wisdom. Someone with knowledge of magic or medicine must have helped him to develop a cure.
“Nikolai said the castle belonged to a great scholar named Talliano. Has anyone ever heard of him?” Leo scanned their blank expressions as they shook their heads. “Nikolai said he came back for the cure and for Talliano’s notes. He threatened to burn the place to the ground before he left, including everything else in it.”
“Surely his interest in the fellow’s notes must have something to do with the cure,” Elliot folded his arms as he perched on the end of the bed. “Perhaps Talliano experimented with medicine. Perhaps he used his knowledge to heal.”
Evelyn’s eyes grew wide. “Herr Bruhn said many people come here for the healing waters. There is a waterfall up in the hills no more than a mile away. People say it flows from Heaven.”
Alexander nodded. “I’ve heard it mentioned, but thought it was gossip spun by the locals as a way of securing more visitors.”
“If Talliano is a man of medicine, then we are looking for a room that has been used as a laboratory,” Leo said confidently. If Talliano had invented a cure, it would not have been a simple process. “My guess is that it is below ground level.”
Evelyn gripped Alexander’s arm. “I know I should remain calm and not get excited, but the thought of a cure warms my heart.”
Alexander kissed the top of her head tenderly. “We must expect disappointment, my love. And we must also remember that whatever we find here belongs to Ivana.”
Evelyn sighed. “I know.”
“It is strange,” Ivana mused. “Most people would sell their soul for a chance of immortality. Yet here we all are desperately clinging to the hope that we will one day age and die.”
Elliot shot off the bed, the colour draining from his face as his frantic gaze shot to Alexander. He turned to Grace, opened his mouth to speak but froze.
“What do you mean you hope to age?” Grace asked in an innocent tone. “Everyone ages.”
Leo suspected that neither of his brothers had told their wives they were immortal. His heart went out to them as no man wanted to see pain in the eyes of the woman he loved.
Ivana’s fearful gaze flitted between the two gentlemen. “Forgive me. I assumed they knew.”
Evelyn frowned. “Assumed we knew what? To what do you refer?”
Alexander pushed his hand through his mop of dark hair. He grasped Evelyn’s hands and stared soulfully into her eyes. “There is no easy way to say this, and so it is best to say it quickly. One of the consequences of our affliction is that we are immortal.”