Page 29 of Castle of the Cursed
Disco que asombra,
Río rojo más puro,
Castillo de las sombras,
No hay luz en Oscuro.
The last line lands in my stomach with a thud. “What does the whole thing mean?”
“Think you can figure it out if I help you?” he asks, activating tutor mode.
I take a stab at the first line. “Disco? Like the dance?”
Felipe snorts. “No, it means disk.”
I grin, too. “That makes more sense. So, disk that… a-sombra? Is that like a shadow?”
He chuckles again. “Asombra means astounds or astonishes.”
“So… disk that astounds?” He nods in assent, and I continue. “Río… means river?” He nods again, his smile growing. “Red… most… pure? Red river most pure?”
“Yes!” he says proudly. “And the last two lines?”
“Castle of the shadows… there’s no light in Oscuro.” I reread the whole thing, in English: “Disk that astounds, red river most pure, castle of the shadows, there’s no light in Oscuro.”
I look at him, still confused. “What’s it mean?”
“I think it’s kind of a riddle.”
I used to love those. “Castle of the shadows means la Sombra,” I say, and I start to pace the attic like I used to when I was in problem-solving mode. “Red river most pure… could that be blood?”
I stop moving and look at Felipe, who nods in assent. Thinking of the Brálaga crest, I say: “Disk that astounds must refer to the moon. So, the answers are: full moon, blood, la Sombra, and… nighttime?”
His brow arches up. “That was quick.”
“But if those are the answers, what’s the question?” I ask, resuming my pacing.
“What if it’s a spell?”
I freeze, feeling my eyes widening at the word. If—if—Sebastián is real, and if there’s actually a spell, and if Brálaga magic exists…
“Do you think my aunt can conduct magic?” I ask, answering Felipe’s question with another.
The humor fades from his features. It feels like removing the filter of friendly bookseller and seeing his true face underneath.
The hunger I glimpsed earlier was nothing compared to the ravenous way he looks now. He’s more than the bright-eyed tutor of the past few days, and I see the danger Beatríz picked up on. Felipe is an investigator in search of a secret he’s so desperate to uncover, he’s willing to risk everything for it. Even himself.
He reminds me of me.
“No one knows what la doctora does inside la Sombra,” he says, lowering his voice. “You’re the first to get close. If anyone can find out… it’s you.”
“Can I see your calendar again?” I ask.
Felipe grabs it off the desk, and I look down at the tiny black circle for this month. I guess I’ll have my answer soon.
The full moon is in three nights.
CHAPTER 9
